A Tale of Two Brothers
by Sunny Lighter
Summary: How did Mickey Mouse go from being a lowly boat hand, to the king of an entire world? Where does his musketeer days fit in to the story? Here is a story to connect the dots, and tell the tale that all forgot.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The sound of laughter filled the air as two young boys chased each other through the streets of their hometown.

One was a small, seven-year-old mouse with large round ears and a long thin tail wearing red shorts, and the other was a slightly taller, ten-year-old rabbit, with long ears, a small cotton tail and blue shorts. Other than the obvious difference of being a mouse and a rabbit, the two looked very similar. Both were entirely black aside from their faces, which were a light peach color.

The two raced for the bridge at the edge of town. For most of the race it looked as though the mouse would win, but just as the bridge came into sight, the rabbit gave a smirk, and put on a burst of speed, overtaking the mouse and slapping his hand on the bridge.

"Ha, beat you!" the rabbit said tauntingly, beaming down at the shorter of the pair.

"No fair, Ossie," the mouse complained in a high-pitched voice. "You cheated."

"It's not cheating, it's skill," the rabbit, Ossie, said sticking his tongue out at the other. "I'm stronger, faster, _and_ luckier than you Mickey, and don't you forget it. It's the older brother privilege."

"You're just lucky because you have rabbit feet," Mickey grumbled.

Ossie laughed, and ruffled his brother's head between his ears. "Cheer up Mick, maybe one day _you'll_ get lucky and grow taller than me."

Mickey perked up at that. "You think so?"

Ossie shrugged, not looking like he believed it. "Not likely, but maybe."

" _Ossie!"_ Mickey whined.

The rabbit laughed at his pout, but the laughter quickly died as he caught sight of something behind the mouse. "Mickey! Get back!" he shouted suddenly, grabbing his little brother and shoving him behind him.

Mickey stumbled at the rough treatment, but quickly paled as he realized the cause of it.

Three snickering thugs wearing hoods and masks slowly made their way out from under the bridge, all three bigger then the two youngsters, and grinned down at them wickedly. Despite this, Ossie kept himself firmly between them and Mickey. "What do you creeps want?" he asked snidely.

That just caused them to laugh louder. "So glad yous asked," the biggest of the thugs said with a sneer. "We jus' want everythin' yous got. Hand over your valuables and yer little brother won' get hurt, Ossie, was it?"

The sneer was literally knocked off the biggest thug's face as Ossie gave it a strong kick. "Only people I like can call me that," he snapped, raising his fists to fight. "It's Oswald to you creeps!"

The other thugs helped the third back to his feet, and their mocking taunts turned to anger, as one of them grabbed Ossie by his long ears, and held him dangling in the air.

"Ossie!" Mickey cried as his brother was snatched away from him.

"You'll pay for that, brat!" snarled one of the thugs as he raised his fist in the air. But before he could strike a blow, a rock hit him in the eye, making him howl in pain and drop Ossie back to the ground, and allowed the boy to scramble away.

Further enraged, the thugs tried to grab the rabbit once again, but a new voice rang out, freezing them in their tracks.

"Halt!"

All turned to see three tall men in royal musketeer uniforms standing proudly a short distance away. "Leave these children be," ordered the one who had spoken before.

The thugs turned their sneering gaze onto the three soldiers. "Or else what?" one of them said.

The musketeers shared a grin, before the closest punched one of the thugs in the face, thus beginning a fairly one-sided battle in the musketeer's favor.

While this happened, Ossie made his way back to Mickey. Standing protectively in front of him again, Ossie spared his brother a grin. "Nice shot with the rock, Mick."

At the lack of response, he did a double take. "Mick?"

But Mickey barely heard him as he stared in awe at the fight before them. "Whoa," he whispered.

Ossie glanced back to the skirmish just as the musketeers sent the thugs packing. He had to admit, it was impressive, but he didn't see what had Mickey so entranced.

With the bad guys gone, one of the musketeers made his way over to the children. "Are you boys alright?" he asked kindly.

"W-we're alright," Mickey said, still staring at the musketeer in awe.

"Yeah, those guys were nothing," said Ossie confidently.

The musketeer chuckled at their responses. "I saw how you two defended each other. That was very brave. A lot like us musketeers."

"Really?" Mickey squeaked.

The musketeer nodded. "Yes, as royal musketeers, our code is "All for One, and One for All. Teamwork and defending each other is how we win the day."

Ossie cocked his head, looking interested. "That's some motto."

The musketeer smiled and offered them his hat. "Well, perhaps such brave young boys like yourself might be musketeers yourself someday. I'm sure we'd be glad to have you."

Mickey took the hat, staring at it like it was a priceless treasure, but Oswald looked skeptical. "Us? Musketeers?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Anything is possible," the musketeer said, standing to leave. "You boys be good now."

With that the musketeer joined his companions, and they all made to leave.

"W-wait!" came a shout, stopping them.

They turned back to see Mickey shuffling shyly, before running over to them and holding out the hat and a pen from his pocket. "Could, uh, could I have your autographs, please?" he asked.

The musketeers laughed humorously at the request, but accepted the pen and each wrote their name under the brim, before handing it back to the mouse and continuing on their way.

Once they were out of sight, Ossie realized they needed to go home too, and gestured for Mickey to follow. "Come on, Mick, I bet Dad will want to hear all about this."

Mickey snapped out of his star struck daze, and hurried to walk beside him, fidgeting with the hat in his hands. "Do you think _I_ could ever be a musketeer like he said?" he asked his brother uncertainly.

Ossie paused and looked over at Mickey in surprise. Well, that at least explained his reaction to the whole ordeal. Honestly, Ossie didn't think either of them could make the cut to be a musketeer, as those were supposed to be the best of the best, and neither of them were likely to grow very big, but there was no way he would tell his brother that at the risk of seeing his crestfallen face.

Instead he said, "… Yeah, maybe someday… When you're bigger."

Mickey's head shot up. "You mean it."

"Well, sure. Like that guy said…" Ossie said, reaching for the hat, and placing it on Mickey's head. "…Anything is possible."

Peeking out from beneath the too-big hat, Mickey beamed up at him with stars in his eyes.

"Now come on, we're gonna be late for dinner," said Ossie, hurrying on ahead, making Mickey run to catch up.

As they ran, Mickey had one more question that needed answering. "Hey Oswald, you said you only let people you like call you Ossie."

"Yeah, so?" asked Ossie.

"So does that mean you like that Ortensia girl? She's the only one who calls you Ossie aside from me and Dad?" Mickey asked innocently.

Ossie stopped dead in his tracks, and his entire face burned fire engine red. "MICKEY!" he shouted in a scandalized tone, and chased his little brother the rest of the way home. "GET BACK HERE! MICKEY!"

* * *

 **A/N If you can't tell, this fic is going to be my little headcanon of Mikey's backstory from the Kingdom Hearts games, with elements borrowed from both Epic Mickey and The Three Musketeers. This is an idea I've been sitting on for a while. It's one I'd wanted to write for some time, and then finally got around to doing it. I like how it came out, and I hope you enjoy it to. I'll just keep my fingers crossed we'll someday get Oswald in Kingdom Hearts. That's something I'd really like to see. Let me know what you think.**

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Ten years later…_

"MICKEY!"

Mickey awoke from dreaming of fond memories at the sharp knock outside his bedroom door.

Groaning, and prying himself out of bed, the mouse opened his door to see Oswald standing there with a teasing grin. "Hurry up, sleepy head. Pete will kill you if you're late to work again."

Mickey gave another groan as his barely awake brain registered the truth in Oswald's words, and hurried to get dressed for another day working for Pete on his Steamboat Willie, bidding his dog, Pluto, goodbye as he left, thinking of all that had happened since that day so long ago.

Years had passed since their meeting the musketeers, and the two had grown up (more so for Mickey, as he was now slightly taller than Oswald, much to the elder's eternal displeasure), and gotten jobs in their small hometown.

Oswald, who drove a trolley stationed not far away from the steamboat's harbor, usually walked to work with his younger brother in the morning. It was a simple job, but he had no complaints. Life had turned out well for him through the years. He had married his childhood crush and love of his life, Ortensia the Cat, and together the two had had more children than Mickey could count, with more on the way. Oswald would occasionally joke that the two intended to eventually have four hundred and twenty children, though it was starting to look like the jest would become a reality. In short, the lucky rabbit couldn't be happier.

However, the same could not be said for Mickey. There was nothing wrong with his life, per say, and he wasn't _un_ happy. He had a decent job on the steamboat (even if his boss was a pushy jerk who never let him drive), and as he was not an adult quite yet he still lived with Oswald and his family. He also owned a friendly dog to share it all with. It was safe to say he lived a fairly comfortable life, but it was also a _very_ boring life.

Ever since the day he'd seen the musketeers fight off those robbers he had dreamed of becoming one himself. To go off on daring adventures, and live by the code, All for One, and One for All. However, as hard as he had worked to make the dream a reality, it did not seem to be in the cards as of yet. At least not until he was old enough to be an adult.

Mickey was brought out of his musings when a large yawn forced its way out of him, causing Oswald to chuckle.

"Stayed up late last night reading those adventure stories again?" the rabbit asked, already knowing the answer.

Mickey gave a sleepy hum of agreement. "There's just so much out there to see, Ossie," he said.

"So where'd those books take you this time?" Oswald asked.

That woke Mickey up some more, as he began to excitedly chatter about what he had read. "It's amazing, Ossie. The book is all about how there are all these other worlds out there, separate from our own. One for every star in the night sky, and possibly even more than _that!_ "

"Other worlds?" Oswald replied, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh-huh," said Mickey with a nod. "But the book didn't say how to get to them. Just that there used to be lots of ways to do so, but all of them are blocked now."

"Maybe that's a good thing," said Oswald. "I guess we'll never know for sure, though." He then snapped his fingers. "Oh, before I forget." He reached into his work bag, and pulled out a paper bag to hand to Mickey. "From Ortensia," he said. "She had to take the Bunny Children to school, but she said she just knew you'd sleep through breakfast again and forget to pack a lunch, so she has you covered."

A loud grumbling sounded from Mickey's stomach, and he gratefully accepted the bag. There were times when he marveled how fortunate his brother was to marry someone as kind as Ortensia. The sweet, black cat was always looking out for others, and despite having so many children around demanding her and Oswald's attention, she never failed to help Mickey when she knew he needed it. "Remind me to tell her thanks, I really appreciate it."

Oswald chuckled. "Will do. Although, you should really learn to cook for yourself someday, Mick. It's a handy skill to have."

Mickey groaned, making his brother laugh harder. Oswald knew better than anyone just how bad his cooking was. The mouse couldn't boil water without burning it, and all the children were warned to never let him near a stove.

"Well, if you don't want to learn, you could always get yourself a girlfriend who cooks. Then you'd be set for life," Oswald teased.

"Not all of us were lucky enough to meet their dream girl when we were young," Mickey grumbled with no real malice.

Oswald gave him a cocky grin. "Yup, lucky, that's me."

Mickey rolled his eyes at that, and continued, "Besides, I'm not sure how having a girlfriend would fit in to my becoming a musketeer."

Oswald skipped a step in his gate, and his smile dimmed as he stumbled. "You're still set on that, huh?"

Despite always encouraging him to follow his dreams, Oswald was worried. Mickey's eighteenth birthday was fast approaching, and he knew that once it came there would be nothing stopping him from running off to the palace to apply. But despite being adults, the both of them were still very small, especially compared to the musketeers they would sometimes see traveling through their town. If Mickey tried to actually become a musketeer, one of two things would happen. He would either be rejected for not being strong enough, breaking his heart, or he would actually fulfill his dream, only to be crushed when it came to an actual fight, and Oswald wasn't sure which option was worse.

Fortunately, he was saved from having to reply, as they reached the fork in the road to their respective jobs. "See you later, Mick," he said. "Don't let Pete push you around too much."

"Later, Ossie," Mickey replied. "Don't throw all the people out of the trolley on the hills again."

"That only happened once," Oswald snapped as they parted ways.

* * *

One long day of peeling potatoes in the galley, Mickey trudged home grumbling about Pete, and his stupid steamboat.

As he came into sight of his house, he heard a shout. "Hey, Uncle Mickey's home!"

"UNCLE MICKEY!"

"Uh oh," Mickey muttered, recognizing the chorus of voices.

A second later he was knocked to the ground and pinned in a group hug by a massive pile of small bunnies, all of whom looked just like mini Oswalds.

Above the symphony of chattering children, Mickey heard an amused giggle. "Alright everyone. Off him now."

There was a series of disappointed groans, but the children reluctantly climbed off their perch, allowing Mickey to sit back up and see a hand held out to help him up. Taking it, he smiled up at the owner of it. "Thanks, Ortensia."

"Not a problem," said the cat with a smile, before heading back into the house, some of the bunnies following her after her.

Mickey glanced at the remaining bunny children beside him. "Why do you guys have to do that _every_ day?" he asked.

"'Cause it's fun!" said one of the children brightly.

"Well, why don't you do it to Oswald?" Mickey asked.

"We do it to him too," another one piped up.

"He just gets home before you do, so you don't see it," added a third.

"Uh huh," Mickey said, not sure he believed it. The children all adored their Papa, and he couldn't really see them tackling _him_ to the ground like they did their uncle. Hugging him, sure, but without his feet leaving the ground like Mickey's always did.

As if sensing his doubts, the children gave him devious grins, which only strengthened his suspicions.

"You going to stand there all day?" Oswald called from the front doorway, startling Mickey and the youngsters into hurrying back inside.

A chaotic but delicious dinner later, Mickey helped Oswald and Ortensia it the nightly struggle to get all of the children into bed. Considering how many there were, and that some would bolt once their backs were turned, it usually ended up taking far longer than it should have, and even Pluto would get in on the action by sniffing out ones attempting to hide to avoid their bedtime. By the end of it, the three grown-ups were usually tired enough to get to bed themselves.

This was the case with Mickey that night, as he trudged back to his room with Pluto trailing behind him, equally tired. "G'night," he said sleepily.

"Good night, Mickey," called Ortensia.

"Don't stay up all night reading again," Oswald added.

Mickey hummed to show he heard, and yawned tiredly as he left the room to prepare for bed.

Despite Oswald's warning, the mouse fully intended to keep reading for as long as he could keep his eyes open, only when he reached for where he'd left his book, he found that it wasn't there.

Mickey blinked in surprise. He then patted the area around where it should be, trying to find it and turned up nothing. A quick search of his room yielded the same results.

"D'ya know where my book is, Pluto?" he asked.

The dog barked, and made his ears stand straight up into the air like a rabbit's.

Realizing who he was referring to, Mickey grumbled, " _Oswald!"_ knowing his brother had taken his book to make sure he slept.

After a brief mental debate over if it was worth it to demand his book back this late, Mickey got up and trudged down the hall to get his book back with Pluto padding behind him. He knew if he didn't put his foot down now and get his book back, Oswald would think this tactic worked, and would keep stealing it to make him sleep instead.

As he reached the bedroom where he knew Oswald and Ortensia were, he passed a child they had missed in their earlier escapade.

Glancing down at the little one, he said, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

The bunny made a face. "I was just going there. I thought staying up late would be cool, but it's really just Mama and Papa being _gross_."

Mickey chuckled awkwardly as the bunny passed him for the bedrooms, and continued on his way more quietly, hoping that if he overheard his brother and his wife being 'gross' he'd be able to turn back before he walked into anything he'd rather not see.

When he finally reached the door, what he heard was almost enough to make him turn back on the spot.

"Oh, Honey Bunny," came Ortensia's coo through the door.

"Mmm, Honeybunch," Oswald hummed back, followed by the obvious sounds of kissing.

Mickey shared a grimace with Pluto, and made to return to his room, thinking he'd fight with Oswald about his book tomorrow.

However, he halted his tracks when he heard the kissing sounds stop, and Ortensia say, "Ossie, what's this?"

Oswald sounded nervous when he saw what his wife had found. "Oh, um…"

"You stole Mickey's book, didn't you," Ortensia deadpanned.

"Kinda," said Oswald nervously, and his words were quickly followed by a yelp, and Mickey knew that Ortensia had tugged on one of his ears as punishment, making Mickey smother a snicker with his hand. Ortensia and Oswald may be one of the most disgustingly lovey-dovey couples he'd ever seen, but that didn't stop Ortensia from not letting Oswald get away with anything.

"Ossie," Ortensia said with a sigh. "You know this won't keep him from leaving. He's wanted to become a musketeer his whole life."

Oswald heaved a sigh of his own. "Yeah, I know, but I can try."

Mickey, who had been about to enter the room to reclaim his book, froze in his tracks.

"Oswald," Ortensia scolded, but Mickey heard the sound of the rabbit standing up and begin pacing.

"It's not that I don't want him to become a musketeer, Honeybunch. I do! I just… It's what happens _after_ he gets his uniform I worry about, if he even makes it that far," he explained, sounding frustrated.

"You don't think he can make it?" Ortensia asked.

Oswald gave another sigh, and Mickey could just imagine him rubbing his head as he always did when trying to explain his feelings. "Honestly… Ortensia, I've been the one helping him train all these years. Trying to build up his strength and be able to fight once he gets there. He's never even beaten me once, and if he can't win against someone his own size, how can he expect to beat someone who's bigger. He's my little brother, I just don't want him to get hurt…"

Mickey heard Ortensia move over to stop Oswald's pacing so that he would look at her. "Have you ever told Mickey this?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Oswald asked in disbelief. "After all the times I told him he could do it? I'm his biggest and only supporter. He'd never forgive me."

"I don't think so," said Ortensia. "Mickey's not the kind to hold a grudge. But I do know keeping these thoughts a secret from him will make things worse the longer you hold it in."

There was a sound of springs creaking as Oswald sat back down. "Maybe you're right. I'll tell him tomorrow. Heh, maybe I'll even convince him to stay in town, and just find a better job than his one with Pete to help him want to stay. There are worse things than a quiet life."

"I'm sure it will work out, Honey Bunny," said Ortensia encouragingly.

Mickey heard the sound of one last kiss before the light turned out, and the room went dark.

Mickey quietly stepped away, his head reeling over what he'd just overheard, and a sharp, betrayed feeling in his gut.

Oswald, the person he thought he could always count on, didn't believe in him… He didn't think Mickey could do it… He wanted him to keep living this dull life until the end of his days…

And maybe he was right…

Mickey stopped and shook his head vigorously.

No.

He wasn't right. Mickey could do it. He _will_ become a musketeer. Oswald was _wrong._

Oswald was…

Mickey screwed his eyes shut, and marched back to his bedroom, Pluto following behind him looking concerned.

It was all Mickey could do not to slam his bedroom door, but he refrained as it would only alert the rest of the house to his plans. Instead he put all his energy into packing what he needed.

Money, some spare clothes, some snacks he'd kept hidden in his room, as many books as he could comfortably carry, and, of course, the hat the musketeers had given him so long ago. Mickey placed the hat on his head, and shoved the rest into a rucksack, and made his way over to the window.

Seeing what he was about to do, Pluto perked up and hurried after him, grabbing the back of his shirt in his teeth to stop him.

"Pluto," Mickey whispered, trying to shove the dog off of him as quietly as possible. "Down boy, let go."

Pluto's response was to sink his teeth in deeper and let out a growl.

"Shhhhh!" Mickey hissed, stepping back from the window, and crouching down next to the dog with his finger to his lips. "I have to do this, but I can't if you wake everybody up."

Pluto gave a huff like he didn't believe a word of it.

"I _have_ to, Pluto," Mickey insisted stubbornly. "You're not stopping me."

Pluto seemed to give that some thought, before bounding over to Mickey's desk and grabbing a piece of paper off of it.

Mickey frowned. "You want me to leave a note?"

Pluto gave (thankfully quiet) bark of confirmation.

Mickey's frown deepened, but he still picked up a pen and wrote a quick message to leave on his pillow, knowing Oswald would find it in the morning.

He then made his way to the window again, keeping a careful eye on Pluto in case the dog would try to stop him. It wasn't until he was outside that he sighed in relief, but before he could close the window once again, Pluto leaped out of it and landed on the grass beside him.

" _Pluto!"_ Mickey groaned in exasperation. "Get back inside, you silly dog."

Pluto growled, and prowled over to sit himself pointedly at Mickey's side.

Mickey blinked. "You… You want to come with me, boy?"

Pluto barked in confirmation.

Mickey gave him a fond smile, happy to have such a loyal dog.

A loyal dog that Oswald had given him for Christmas years ago…

The thought made Mickey freeze, and turn to look back at the still open window. There was still a chance to turn back. To live the quiet life that his brother wanted for him. To stay with his family and be safe.

Mickey's fingers shook as he took hold of the window again, unsure whether to shut it or climb back through.

Finally, he closed his eyes and said firmly, "Oswald was wrong," and shut the window with a soft snap. With his resolve reaffirmed, he turned away from the house and started on his way towards the capital, where the musketeers were trained, and Pluto padding softly at his heels.

Still, as he reached the hilly edge of the sleepy town he paused and glanced back down in the direction of his home, before turning and continuing on his way.

He wouldn't return until he was a musketeer, he vowed.

There was no turning back now.

* * *

The next morning, Oswald awoke to do his daily ritual of getting ready for work before knocking on Mickey's door to wake him up, determined to talk to him about his concerns on the way to their jobs.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" Oswald called, hoping his false cheer would cover his nerves. "You can't sleep the day away!"

He waited for the familiar groan of his brother rousing, but was instead met with silence.

Oswald frowned, and knocked again. "Mickey! Come on, wake up!"

No response.

Now slightly concerned, Oswald knocked a third time and shouted, "I'm coming in, Mick," before opening the door to step inside to find the room empty.

The rabbit's surprised shout echoed through the house, and Ortensia, who had not yet taken the children to school, glanced down the hallway in concern, and several curious children mimicked her action.

The shout was repeated even louder, and Oswald burst out of the room, holding a piece of paper aloft. "Ortensia!" he shouted, running to his wife. "Ortensia, he's gone!"

In his hand was a short note with a single message.

' _I will be a musketeer.'_

* * *

 **A/N I hope this came out well. Mickey feels betrayed that Oswald didn't believe in him, and runs away, meanwhile Oswald only wants to protect him.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was a several days' walk to the castle. Mickey had originally planned to hitch a ride on Pete's steamboat to get there quicker, as it often docked on the river near the palace to ship supplies, especially when the castle was first being built.

Walking, however, took a _long_ time, and Mickey was half convinced that Oswald would appear at any point, having gotten a ride to catch up to him and bring him home.

But he never appeared, and that unnerved Mickey.

Then, he at last reached the castle, and walked up to the gate, determined to be a musketeer.

To say things didn't go as planned was an understatement.

Upon stating his request to the skeptical castle guard, he was taken to the captain of the musketeers, and he was confronted by a very familiar face. "So what's this little mouse doing here for?"

"PETE!" exclaimed Mickey in surprise.

The massive cat he had been taken to scowled at his shout, and said, "That's Captain Pete to you, pipsqueak. Learn some respect."

"But-but, you own a steamboat, y-you're not a _musketeer!"_ Mickey stammered, wondering if this was some kind of cruel joke.

Seeming to realize the source of the mouse's confusion, Pete threw back his head and laughed. "Ah, you must be talkin' about my ol' cousin," he said with a sneer. "Quite the family resemblance, eh? Even gots the same name."

"Y-yeah," Mickey managed to say.

It was indeed quite a resemblance. It was the exact same face and mammoth size. They even had the same deep, patronizing voice. The only minor differences Mickey could see (aside from the musketeer captain uniform instead of the usual patchy overalls) were that this Pete had a small moustache and goatee, and his slight limp revealed he possessed a peg leg.

Captain Pete snorted again. "So you know my cousin and his dinky little tub," he said dismissively. Then he frowned, and squinted at Mickey. "Hey, wait a second… Ain't you that little boat boy that works for him?"

Mickey faltered, not expecting to be recognized. "Uh, yes sir. But now I want to be a musketeer."

Captain Pete burst out laughing once again, clutching his large stomach with mirth and acting like Mickey had just told the greatest joke he'd ever heard.

"Ah," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "That's a good one. D'ya know just how lost my cousin is without you? His boat keeps running behind schedule, and he can't hire anyone to replace ya, 'cause no one wants to work for him."

Mickey winced, not realizing things would be that bad. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize-"

"Don't apologize!" the captain exclaimed, laughing again. "I hate my cousin, and watching him run around like a chicken with its head cut off tryin' to get someone to work for him is the funniest thing I ever seen."

"Oh," Mickey said, and grimaced again. It looked like this Pete wasn't any nicer than his old boss. Still, if it meant becoming a musketeer, if he could handle working for one Pete he could work for the other.

He waited for Pete to finally finish laughing, and said, "So… about my becoming a musketeer…"

Captain Pete glanced down at him in surprise. "Wait, yous was serious? I thought that was part of the joke."

Mickey shook his head firmly. "No, sir. It was the truth. I've wanted to be a musketeer my whole life."

"I can see that," Captain Pete said snidely, flicking at the old musketeer hat perched on Mickey's head, causing it to fall down into his eyes. "Shame to say, but I'm afraid we have no openings in the musketeer business at this moment," he said, his voice full of blatantly false sympathy.

Mickey shoved the hat out of his eyes, and looked up startled, "What? But I came all this way."

"So sorry," said Captain Pete with a shrug, not sounding sorry at all. "Guess it was all for nothing."

"Please," Mickey begged. "There must be something. If I can't get a job here, I'll have to go back and work on the steamboat."

At last it seemed like Captain Pete seemed to take pity on him (when in reality, he just wanted to continue his cousin's suffering), and seemed to take a moment to think. "Well now, we can't have that… Perhaps we have a job here for you. And who knows, you might even work your way up to musketeer someday."

Mickey immediately perked up. "Really! Gosh, that'd be great! I'll do it!"

Captain Pete gave a chuckle at his enthusiasm. "Oh it's no trouble at all. Just head down the hall, third door on the right. The folks there will explain your new role."

Mickey beamed, taking back all the negative things he'd thought about the cat initially, and shook his hand exuberantly. "Thank you, thank you, sir! Just watch, I'll make musketeer in no time. You won't regret this."

Pete shrugged nonchalantly as Mickey turned to race out of the room. "Oh, I won't regret a thing…" he said. But as soon as Mickey shut the door behind him, his smile turned nasty. "... but you will."

Mickey practically flew down the hallway, delighted that he now had his chance. Sure, he'd have to work for it, but that would just make it all the sweeter when he achieved his goal.

But when he yanked the door open, he screeched to a stop at the sight that met his eyes.

A dog and a duck his age, wearing scruffy janitor's clothes looked back up at him from the bottom of a set of stone stairs that appeared to lead to a large work room.

"Let me guess," said the duck in such a cynical scratchy voice that it was difficult to understand. "You're here to work your way up to being a musketeer too."

* * *

And that was how Mickey met and made fast friends with Donald Duck and Goofy Goof (strange names, but it wasn't like he could talk).

As they explained his new janitorial duties to him, they admitted that they were both there for the same reason he was. Like him, they had both dreamed of being musketeers, only to find themselves stuck working as janitors in the palace thanks to Captain Pete.

Goofy was a tall, easygoing individual with an optimistic but slow going personality. He seemed content to wait for whatever would happen to happen, and deal with any problem once it arrived. Like Mickey, he too came from a small town, but unlike Mickey, he had no family to return to, but often talked about how much he wanted to have kids of his own someday.

Donald, on the other hand, was high strung and very emotional. He could switch from being panicky one moment, to hopping mad in a blink. Despite this, he was very loyal, and worked hard despite his grumblings. Surprisingly, the duck actually came from a wealthy family, but for reasons he wouldn't explain, he was determined to make a name for himself on his own rather than rely on his family's fortune.

But when it came time for Mickey to tell them about himself, he found himself holding back. He told Donald and Goofy all about his town, working for the captain's cousin on the steamboat, and the story of how he was inspired to be a musketeer, but when it came to anything that pertained to Oswald, Ortensia, or their children, he held his tongue, ashamed he'd run away, and worried that his new friends may end up agreeing with Oswald.

Donald and Goofy quickly helped the mouse learn the castle inside and out, both for his job, and because the two had been curious when working there, and enjoyed exploring.

"There's jus' one place we've never been able t' go," Goofy said once the tour had been completed.

"Down underneath the castle," Donald rasped with a nod.

"Yeah," agreed Goofy. "Nobody but the princess is allowed under there. Not even to clean. 'S all locked up tight."

Mikey frowned thoughtfully at that. "Huh, that must be where they keep the Cornerstone of Light."

"Cornerstone of Light?" Donald and Goofy asked in unison, sharing a confused look.

"Well, yeah," said Mickey with a shrug, having thought it was common knowledge, though, apparently, it wasn't. "That's why they built this new castle here in the first place. There was this big, magic stone that's been sitting up on a hill for as long as anyone can remember. Some folks figured out that the stone had this powerful protective magic, so the royal family decided to build this castle over top of it so that they could keep it safe, and use it to protect everyone else. Now it's the princess who protects it."

"Gawrsh," said Goofy in surprise. "I didn't know that."

"Me neither. How'd you know that, Mickey?" asked Donald.

Mickey shuffled bashfully. "Remember how I said I worked for the captain's cousin on a boat? Welp, we helped build the castle by shipping supplies down the river to here."

He then frowned thoughtfully, and glanced between his friends. "Say, come to think of it, weren't the two of you there when the castle was being built?"

The duck and dog exchanged another glance. "What are ya talkin' about, Mickey?" asked Goofy. "I never met you or Donald before this job."

"Yeah," said Donald. "I never even came near this place before the castle was here."

Mickey frowned, and scratched his head. "Huh, that's weird. I coulda' sworn I saw these two fellas who looked just like you two along with some other guy hanging around when the castle was being built. They helped solve a bunch of problems happenin' nearby here before going on their way. Pete even let them drive the steamboat for a bit to thank them. He's never even let _me_ do that, and I worked for him for years."

Goofy shrugged, but looked interested. "Wasn' me. Maybe we've got some double-gangers out there."

"That's doppelgängers," Donald corrected with a grimace. "And seeing yours is bad luck."

Mickey chuckled. "Well, you didn't see them, _I_ did. So, I guess you're clear."

Donald sighed in relief.

Seeing this, Mickey got an idea, and jumped pretending to look shocked. "Oh gosh! There they are again!" he shouted, pointing behind Donald.

"WHAAACK!" Donald screamed, jumping several feet into the air, before diving to hide behind Goofy.

Goofy, however was looking where Mickey was pointing in confusion. "But there's no one there, Mickey," he said.

Realizing he'd been had, Donald jumped back out of his hiding place and shook his fist at the mischievous mouse, giving a squawk of outrage, at which Mickey only laughed good naturedly.

Later that day, Donald got his revenge by 'accidentally' knocking a dirty bucket of mop water on Mickey's head. Goofy ended up getting dragged into the vicious water fight that resulted from it.

* * *

And so, weeks past, and Mickey found he enjoyed this job only slightly more than his last one. While this job's Pete was just as miserable a boss as his last one, the one improvement was that this time he wasn't alone.

Still, he had no intention to give up on his goal, and his motivation and optimism were infectious, quickly spreading to Goofy and Donald as well. This caused them all to talk cheerfully about _when_ they become musketeers rather than if. They would often brag about how the soldiers would someday need someone as clever as Goofy, or as brave as Donald, or as determined as Mickey. Any chance they got during their work they watched the soldiers practice in the yard, and attempted to copy their moves on their breaks, often leading to less than stellar results and getting Pete mad at them.

Unfortunately, one day they were too focused on talking about their aspirations that they failed to notice small mistakes being made in their work until they grew to be messy.

The end results were a pair of boots being ruined, shoe wax covering the floor, Goofy being covered in glue, and everything else being soaked with water. But the absolute worst part was that the damage to the pipes had caused Captain Pete (who had been showering at the time) to come crashing down through the ceiling looking like he'd been knocked on the head a couple times along the way.

The three immediately paled at the sight of their prospective superior officer, and snapped salutes despite being tangled up in the mess they'd accidentally created.

However, the captain barely noticed as he flopped out of his tub like a dead fish.

Fortunately, they weren't fired for the incident (although Mickey did overhear Pete grumbling, "Maybe I'm actually doin' my lousy cousin a favor."). Unfortunately, they were given laundry duty indefinitely as a punishment.

The three were literally thrown into the laundry room by Pete, who loomed over them in the doorway, with a scowl etched into his face.

"Now listen, you yardsticks!" he snapped angrily. "I am sick and tired of your screw-ups! You guys are hopeless! I leave you for five minutes and I come back to a disaster!"

All three friends tried to make themselves smaller to avoid the angry cat's wrath, but Mickey still spoke up bravely to remind Pete why they were there. "W-well we were practicing our teamwork so we could be good musketeers."

Pete looked at the three of them like they were crazy. "Mus...ke... teers…"

Then, for the second time since Mickey had met him, Captain Pete threw back his head and howled with laughter, slumping against a barrel as his mirth kept him from standing up straight.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy traded unsure glances. On one hand, Pete didn't seem to be angry anymore. On the other, it probably wasn't a good sign that he was busting a gut at the very idea of their shared dream.

Finally, Pete stopped laughing and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe tears of mirth from his eyes. "That's priceless," he said, out of breath from his earlier cackles. "You chumps can't even handle a simple janitorial job, and yous thinks you can make it as musketeers?"

Donald and Goofy slumped at his words, but Mickey wasn't deterred. "B-but we could work really hard, and prove ourselves, Captain Pete. A-and then would you let us be musketeers?" he asked hopefully.

Pete gave them a deadpan glare. "Well there's three things wrong with that," he said bluntly.

He then rounded on Donald, and shoved his finger in the duck's face, making Donald squawk in fear and duck down to avoid it.

"You're a coward!" Pete said, feeling Donald's actions had only emphasized his point. "Two-"

He then turned to Goofy, who was staring blankly into space. After failing to gain his attention, Pete rolled his eyes and said, "- You're a doofus."

He then moved to tower over Mickey. "And, as for you, well…" He thrust his finger into Mickey's face and sneered as he said, "You're just too small."

Mickey flinched violently as Pete's words reminded him of the ones he'd overheard Oswald say months ago.

Not seeming to notice (or simply didn't care) Mickey's reaction to his words, Pete continued, "Well, I wouldn't have you yahoos as musketeers even if you were the last recruits in the entire _world!_ "

Mickey reeled back as if slapped, and Donald and Goofy didn't look much better.

Wanting to hammer one last nail into the dream's coffin, Pete snatched Mickey's old musketeer hat from his head. "So you won't be needin' this, will ya?" he said, and crumpled Mickey's most treasured possession into a tiny ball before dropping it back into the mouse's hand. "Here, kid," he said with a nasty laugh. "Have a ball."

Then, crowing with laughter once again, Pete left the room, slamming the door behind him, and causing a large pile of laundry to collapse on top of the three of them.

Pulling himself free of the laundry, Mickey stared sadly down at the crumpled hat, and reached up to place the ball back on his head, hoping to feel the same confidence it had always given him in the past.

But instead it filled him with nothing but sorrow, and his friends could only watch as the mouse's lip trembled, and he looked as though he were about to cry. Suddenly he was without his hat, his dreams, or his brother, and at the moment, it was the last of the three he wanted the most.

It looked like Oswald had been right after all…

Devastated as well, but hating the distraught look on Mickey's face, Donald reached over to pluck the ball off his head, and managed to unfold it back into a hat, and even making it look no worse for the wear despite its mistreatment. Handing it back, he forced a smile, and said, "Cheer up, Mickey."

"Yeah, ya never know. Pete might'a just been foolin', or this is all just a test," added Goofy, though it was clear he didn't even believe the words himself.

Mickey carefully took the hat back and put it on, managing to muster up a weak smile for his friends' efforts. "Thanks, fellas," he said in a downtrodden tone. "I guess we'd better get to work."

And with as much exuberance as a funeral, the three set about slowly cleaning musketeer uniforms that it seemed they would never be allowed to wear.

* * *

 **A/N And now we've gotten into the Three Musketeers plotline, with nods to the Timeless River in KH2. Mickey's finding things aren't happening the way he'd hoped, but at least he has friends to back him up.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The day that followed was utterly melancholy, and Mickey and his friends did their work in a heavy silence.

At one point, Goofy attempted to cheer the others up by singing a working song while they took a break from laundry and were cleaning the windows, but ended up so wrapped up in his singing, he accidently knocked them all off the scaffolding, and prompting them into silence again. To make matters worse, they later heard the princess had been nearby when it had happened, and they all desperately hoped she hadn't seen their most recent screw-up. It was bad enough that Pete believed they were incompetent.

As such, they went back to the laundry room to finish cleaning the uniforms in a morose stupor, unable to put any real effort into it. Even Pluto was slumped next to the wash tub, watching them sadly.

Part of Mickey wondered why he was even still here and not going home to apologize to his brother if he'd never be a musketeer, though deep down he knew there was still a glimmer of hope, though the hope seemed so small right now. He couldn't help but feel that it had been shrinking ever since the day he'd left after hearing of Oswald's doubts. Still, he wasn't giving up just yet. There had to be some way to become a musketeer, if they just worked hard and stuck together, like the musketeer had told him and Oswald when he was a kid...

Mickey's head jerked up from his stupor as he realized he'd still never told Donald and Goofy about his family or how he'd come to be there. If he were honest with himself, running away did not really fit into the 'All for one, and one for all' mentality. If he was going to stick this out with his friends, then he would need to be more honest.

"Hey, fellas," he said hesitantly, breaking the silence, and drawing their attention. "There's something I need ta' tell ya."

Donald blinked, and looked up from where he was pressing shirts, and Goofy came over from his iron.

Mickey fidgeted. "Well, ya see, the truth is, I-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the door burst open and Pete strode in with a wide grin on his face. "Congratulations boys! Ya passed the test!"

"Test?" Donald asked in surprise.

"I was right about somethin'?" asked Goofy.

Pete gave them an oily smirk, and continued, ignoring their questions, "I've been watching you three, and I'll tell you what?" He then hurried over to Mickey and shook his hand vigorously. "You guys have got what it takes to be musketeers!"

The three's jaws dropped in shock, and stared at Pete as if he'd come in with an elephant balanced on his head.

"Really?" Mickey said when he finally managed to find his voice. "Y-y-ya mean it?"

Pete grinned, and used his finger to make an X over his chest. "Cross my heart," he said (and if the three weren't so happy at that moment, they'd normally question if he even had a heart).

There was a moment of stunned silence, before Mickey let out a shout of exuberance. "Oh boy!" He then wheeled around to face his friends, who were still recovering from shock. "H-h-hey fellas! We're gonna be musketeers!"

"Musketeers!" cheered Donald, throwing his arms into the air excitedly.

"Musketeers!" Goofy cried a beat later with equal euphoria.

The three were so delighted they actually hugged Captain Pete, who quickly shoved them away and shooed them off to get their new uniform.

One costume change later the three were able to ditch their ratty work clothes, and were dressed in the red, blue and gold uniforms of royal musketeers (though Mickey, of course, kept his hat and refused the new one that was offered).

Finding out their first assignment was almost as big a surprise as becoming musketeers in the first place. It was going to be their job to be bodyguards for Princess Minnie, as, apparently, there had been an attempt on her life earlier that day.

Unfortunately, due to an incident with the princess' lady in waiting, Daisy, they didn't exactly give the best first impression (that didn't stop Donald from trying to flirt with said lady in waiting, only to be promptly shot down). Luckily, Pete managed to pass it off as them being overprotective, and Princess Minnie was pacified.

Although, Mickey often had to wonder why the princess kept shooting glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking. The looks didn't seem angry, but he couldn't decipher what they meant. He chose not to dwell on it for now, and instead revel in the fact his dream had finally come to fruition. If he was to be the princess' bodyguard, he was sure to figure it out sooner or later anyway.

The next day the three newly minted musketeers were escorting Minnie and Daisy on a carriage ride through the country.

It was a quiet trip, with Goofy driving the carriage, and Donald and Mickey hanging onto the back, while Princess Minnie and Daisy traveled comfortably inside, talking about what Mickey could only assume was some book they were both reading (if the princess' delighted squeal of a 'forbidden romance' was anything to go by).

Needless to say, they did not see the attack by three bandits coming (though, considering they were assigned to the princess due to an attempt on her life, they really should have).

The following fight was nothing short of embarrassing. Goofy was knocked straight off the carriage, and Mickey was shoved into a box and tossed off not long after. Donald tried to hide inside the carriage with the ladies, but they forced him back out to fight, only to be frightened off as soon as he saw Mickey get thrown out.

The end result was the three landing face first into a muddy ditch, and the bandits, whom they recognized as the infamous Beagle Boys, were riding off with the carriage and princess in tow.

After a brief moment of hopelessness, Mickey managed to spur his friends on, convincing them that they could still rescue Princess Minnie and Daisy if they were quick enough.

Following the tracks of the carriage, they managed to discover that the bandits had taken refuge in a tall tower in the middle of nowhere to hide the princess. After some difficulty, and a great amount of luck, the three managed to knock the bad guys straight out of the tower, and save the princess (though they could have done without all of them falling down the tower's staircase at the end, though apparently Princess Minnie had found it funny).

Still, the princess was safe again, and Mickey finally figured out why she had been staring at him from afar…

Apparently, she had thought he was handsome, and her affection had only grown thanks to the rescue and his ability to make her laugh.

The remainder of the trip was far more pleasant than the beginning. Due to the horses being scared off from the ruckus, they had to walk back to the palace, which gave Mickey and Princess Minnie time to get to know each other, and the musketeer soon found himself as enthralled with her as she was with him. By the time he said goodbye to her on the castle steps and she gave him a surprise kiss, he finally understood what made Oswald and Ortensia were always so mushy with each other. He was absolutely in love with her.

Donald had far less luck in wooing Lady Daisy, but he made up for it by teasing Mickey for the lipstick still on his face later on.

* * *

 _A boy in a red outfit wielding a sword shaped like a giant key saves him from a nightmarish creature. However, despite looking him straight in the eye, all Mickey could see of his face was a blur. "K_ Mickey, are you okay?" the boy asked, his voice sounding like it was coming from far away._

" _Huh?" Mickey asked in confusion. "Have we met before? Where'd you get that key?" His eyes then widened as he realized this boy was from another world like he'd read in his book…_

… _He was on the princess' carriage, the strange boy riding on the back next to him and Donald, talking with them like an old friend, when suddenly another creature attacked, this one far bigger than the first, knocking the three musketeers off the carriage, and leaving the boy to fight off the creature on his own…_

… _He was standing in the tower again with Goofy and Princess Minnie. "S_ thank you. Princess Minnie is safe. We couldn't have done it without ya!"_

 _The boy smiled back. "Sure. Happy to help."_

 _Then suddenly, Goofy cried, "It's the bad guys!" and they all turned to see the Beagle Boys rushing towards them with swords raised…_

Mickey snapped awake just as the dreamed bandit made a swipe at his head, panting as he overcame the shock of being startled awake.

Looking around his new musketeer quarters he shared with Donald and Goofy (though the two were currently on the night shift to protect the princess, and he was to take over for Donald in a few hours), he sighed and rubbed his head.

Pluto, who had been sleeping at the foot of his bed, stirred and looked up at him with a soft whine.

Mickey gave a quiet chuckle and reached over to pat Pluto's head. "I'm fine, boy. It was just a dream."

Pluto didn't seem convinced, and Mickey couldn't shake the feeling there was more to the dream either. With all the excitement, he could understand dreaming about the previous day, but why would his dream include someone who hadn't even been there.

Who was that boy from another world, and what was that giant key he was using?

But the details of the boy in the dream were fading from memory faster than he could hold on to them. With a sigh, he fell back on to his pillow, but the questions remained in his head even after he'd fallen back to sleep.

A blade made from a giant key… What kind of weapon could that be…?

* * *

When the time came for Mickey to switch shifts with Donald, he felt more exhausted than when he'd first gone to bed. He'd not had any other dreams about the monstrous creatures or the boy with the key, but his unanswered questions about them and their meaning had made the remainder of his sleep restless.

When he arrived outside the princess' bedroom, he was surprised to see Donald had already left his post, but shrugged it off. He knew Donald wasn't as brave as he liked to boast, but Mickey believed he would come through when it counted. But the night gave shape to several creepy shadows, which could have been too much for the skittish duck. Mickey figured he'd just talk to his friend about it in the morning, as the sounds of Minnie and Daisy giggling in the bedroom indicated that there had been no harm done.

He had barely been on post for a few minutes when Pluto suddenly came careening down the hallway barking his head off.

Hoping to stop him from waking the whole castle, Mickey rushed over to his dog, and said, "Pluto! Pluto! Slow down, boy! What is it?"

In response, Pluto bit into the front of Mickey's uniform and dragged him back down the hallway to the door Goofy was supposed to be guarding.

Only to find that Goofy was nowhere in sight.

Mickey looked around, hoping to spot his friend in the dim light. "Hey, where's Goofy?" he asked, knowing that his friend wouldn't leave his post for no reason.

Pluto only gave a sad whimper.

Mickey then paled and cried, "Donald!" as the implications of the duck being missing as well suddenly seemed far more sinister.

He raced back to his post and began looking around more thoroughly for clues. He ended up finding a potted plant in the shape of Donald holding the duck's sword and hat, and wearing a terrified expression on its face. But unless Donald had inexplicably turned into a plant, he had no idea where the real duck could be.

"Something strange is going on here," he said to Pluto, eyeing the shadows suspiciously.

Pluto looked around as well, when suddenly his ears perked up as he heard something Mickey couldn't.

Seeing this, the mouse strained his ears, and then he heard it too.

"Psst!" came a hiss from inside a suit of armor.

"Who's there!" Mickey demanded, bringing his hand down to rest by his sword.

The suit of armor remained silent.

"Ya better come out of there," Mickey said with a determined scowl as he marched closer to it. "Or I'm comin' in after ya!"

The visor of the armor's helmet slowly rose, and a trembling Donald poked his head out of it.

"Donald?" said Mickey, feeling both surprise and relief at the sight of him. But the relief quickly gave way to worry for Goofy, who was still missing. "What's the big idea? Come down from there! Why weren't you at your post?"

Donald scrambled down from the armor, and grabbed Mickey desperately by the front of his uniform. "We've got to get Goofy and get out of here!" he exclaimed, his eyes darting around in fear.

"Goofy?" Mickey said, hoping Donald would have some answers. "Where is he? He's not at his post either."

Hearing that, Donald's eyes widened in horror. "OH NO! THEY'VE ALREADY GOT GOOFY!" he shouted as he began dragging Mickey towards the exit.

Wanting an explanation, Mickey dug his heels into the floor, and pulled a struggling Donald to a halt. "Who's got Goofy?" he said as the duck continued to try to pull him onwards. "Donald!"

Donald's hands slipped from his fingers, and Mickey decided to put his foot down. "Donald, are you nuts? What's going on?"

Still panicking, Donald quickly rasped out an explanation complete with dramatic hand gestures, but there was just one problem…

"Donald," Mickey said apologetically, "I can't understand a word you say."

The duck gave a cry of frustration, before darting forwards, throwing Mickey over his shoulder, and hightailing it out of there so fast Mickey's hat flew off, leaving Pluto with it and staring bewildered after them.

As Donald ran, Mickey tried to reason with him, but the second he mentioned Captain Pete, Donald finally spoke clearly enough to be understood. "CAPTAIN PETE IS THE BAD GUY!" he shouted as they raced out the palace doors into the gardens.

Mickey's eyes widened, and he reached out to grab hold of a statue and managed to yank himself out of Donald's grip, causing the duck to let out a surprised cry, and screeched to a halt.

"Pete's trying to kidnap the princess?" Mickey asked, stunned.

"Exactly!" shouted Donald.

"But he-he made us musketeers?" Mickey said, still unable to fathom what Donald was saying.

"It was all a lie," Donald said sadly.

Mickey had to lean against the statue at those words. If it was all a lie, then that meant… his dream…

"A lie?" he asked, before shaking his head. It couldn't be a lie. Not when he'd worked so hard. Not when he'd wanted this his whole life. And even if it was, he couldn't leave Minnie if what Donald was saying was true. Not now that she meant so much to him.

Fixing Donald with a determined gaze, he said, "Well, lie or no lie, musketeers don't run from danger, and as long as we wear these uniforms, neither do we."

Unfortunately, Donald took his words the completely wrong way. "You said it," he said cheerfully, before yanking off his uniform to reveal his favorite sailor's outfit underneath, and pulled out his matching hat to wear on his head. "It's every duck for himself!" he shouted as he turned to run away.

"Donald, wait!" Mickey called after him, making the duck pause. "Together we can stop Captain Pete. Remember how we rescued the princess?"

Donald turned back, and gave Mickey an ashamed look. "I-ah-um," he stuttered, before ducking his head and looking away. "I was hiding."

"Hiding?" Mickey said as he blinked in surprise. He hadn't noticed that, but then the fight had been so chaotic he could have missed it. "Well," he said, thoughtfully, before giving Donald an encouraging look. "Tonight you came back to warn us, and that took courage, Donald."

Donald stared at him, but didn't respond. It was clear from his face he didn't agree it was all that brave.

Not willing to give up, Mickey said, "Come on, I'll be right beside ya. 'Cause we're friends."

For a second, Donald's expression lifted, and Mickey thought he had managed to convince him. But then it quickly fell again, and he shouted, "I just can't! I'm sorry!" before turning tail and running away.

"Donald!" Mickey called after him, taking a few steps to follow, but knew he couldn't leave the princess alone in the castle, especially with what he now knew.

Donald heard his shout but didn't turn back, quickly disappearing into the fog.

Slowly, Mickey lowered his hand as Pluto caught up to them, Mickey's prized hat in his mouth.

Mickey managed a small smile at the dog, and took his hat back. Placing it back on his head, his expression turned determined. Donald may have left, but Goofy was still in trouble. He'd find his friend, and protect the princess.

As he began considering where Goofy could be, Pluto began sniffing the air before letting out a low growl.

Hearing this, Mickey turned his attention back to his dog. "What is it, boy?" he asked.

As if in answer, the sound of a malicious chuckle came from behind the mouse, and he wheeled around to see the shadowy figure of Captain Pete stepping out from behind a statue, laughing louder as he did so.

"Well, well, well," he said with a sneer. "If it ain't the one Musketeer."

Mickey stood tall, and stormed up to his soon to be former captain. "Captain Pete, by the power invested in me as a musketeer, I arrest you, mister!"

Captain Pete let out a deep belly laugh at Mickey's words, towering above the mouse as he did so. "That's a good one," he guffawed, before bringing his large, hammy fist down onto Mickey's head.

Seeing this, Mickey reached for his sword, but was not fast enough, and his world went black.

* * *

 **A/N I know in Kingdom Hearts Mickey hinted that he was from a different world, but I thought that seemed farfetched considering how many characters from Disney were there, and neither Donald or Goofy act like they're from somewhere different, and both claim to be from Disney. Like Sora says in the game, I don't get it. My theory is that Mickey's words there were part of the present influencing the dream of the past. Besides, that section of the game is inaccurate anyway, as there is no mention of Clarabelle or Daisy, who are both present in the film.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Mickey awoke inside a cramped bird cage covered in a blanket that was being carried in a wagon judging by the sound of hooves and the rocking of the cage.

A short time later, the cover was pulled back and Captain Pete gleefully carried the cage deep into an ominous fortress Mickey recognized as Mont Saint-Michel, an abandoned monastery just off the coast of the kingdom.

Unsuccessful in his attempts to break out of the cage, the mouse could only watch as Pete carried him deeper and deeper into the stone fortress until they reached what he could only assume was the bottom level.

Or perhaps not, as Pete reached down to open a grate set into the ground, and dropped his cage down it with a cheerful, "Oopsie, I am such a butterfingers."

Fortunately, the fall freed him from the cage. Unfortunately, falling down a hole at least three stories deep really _hurt!_

The pain left Mickey dazed as Pete climbed down a ladder set into the wall, and by the time he came to his senses, Pete was lifting him up by the back of his uniform, and dangling him in the air with ease, despite his struggles.

Using his superior strength, Pete clamped a large shackle around Mickey's waist, before stepping back to admire his handiwork.

"Well, Mickey," he said as he leaned back against the ladder. "It looks like this is the end of the line." He then laughed as if he had just told the funniest joke.

Mickey found it far from funny, and he surged to his feet, determined to beat Pete into oblivion…

… Only to find that the chain the shackle was attached to was too short for him to walk across the cell to Pete.

Still, he stood his ground. "Think so!" he demanded. "My pals will be right behind us!"

Pete looked far from impressed. "Oh, sure, uh-huh," he said. "The duck dumped ya, remember?"

Mickey's face fell at the mention of his friend. He'd always thought that when he truly needed Donald, the duck would come through, but it was looking like that might not be the case. Still, he held firm. "Well, Goofy, then!" he said, knowing Goofy would never turn his back on him.

Captain Pete's expression turned sinister. "The goof?" he said. "He's gettin' fitted for a halo."

Mickey's expression turned horrified as he shook his head in denial.

"Yes, yes," said Pete, grabbing him by the front of his collar, and holding him up to look him in the eye. "Face it, Mickey. It's all for one, and you are on your _own!_ "

With that, he threw Mickey back against the wall, knocking the wind out of the mouse.

"Enjoy your brief stay here at the Mont Saint-Michel," Pete said snidely as he made his way back to the ladder. "You know, they say the tide comes in faster than horses."

He then made his way up the ladder, but couldn't resist giving a parting taunt. "So long, runt! I got me tickets to the opera. A little something called 'I Just Can't Wait to be King'."

Then with a final laugh, he climbed the rest of the way up, and slammed the grate closed, leaving Mickey in the cold dark cell.

It was then Mickey realized this was the first time he'd ever truly been alone. Donald and Goofy had been with him since the start of his working at the palace, Pluto had been by his side even longer, and before even that, Oswald had been there for him since the day he'd been born. He'd never been alone his entire life, and it was a jarring and utterly lonely feeling.

Thinking of his brother, Mickey reached up to remove his hat, and stared sadly down at it.

"Oswald was right," he murmured sadly to himself, tossing the hat away. "I'll never be a real musketeer."

He curled up into a miserable ball, wishing he'd never left that night. That he'd stayed and let Oswald convince him to give up his dream the following morning. If he had, maybe Goofy wouldn't be dead, and Donald wouldn't have run away… Maybe the princess would have gotten bodyguards who could actually protect her… If he had just stayed home, none of this would have happened.

Who knows how long the mouse lay curled up like that, but eventually he was pulled from his misery by the sound of water leaking into the room.

Looking up, he saw to his surprise that the floor was already soaking wet, and more water was pouring in through the vents and was rising at a rapid pace.

Remembering what Pete had said about the tide, Mickey looked around the room, before spotting a clear mark set into the wall of how high water would get.

And to his mounting horror, he realized that the mark was far higher than he was tall.

Realizing all too quickly why Captain Pete had called it a 'brief' stay in the dungeon, Mickey desperately began pawing at the shackle in an attempt to unlock it. When that yielded no results, be began tugging at the chain to pull it from the wall.

Nothing, and by then the water was already up to his waist.

He kept trying.

By the time the water was up to his neck, he was struck by a horrible thought.

If he died here, no one would be able to tell his family what happened to him. Captain Pete sure as heck wasn't going to tell anyone, and neither Donald nor Goofy (if he was still alive) knew that Oswald even existed.

He'd never told them, too ashamed that he'd run away.

He'd never be able to make things up to Oswald… To apologize for leaving like he did… His big brother, who had only been trying to protect him, would never see him again, or know what happened to him…

By the time Mickey shook himself out of that thought, the water was overtaking his head, and he took a deep breath, and dove beneath it to try and break the chain.

He couldn't die here! He couldn't do that to Oswald!

By the time he resorted to trying to bite the chain apart he had run out of air, and swam to the surface to take a desperate breath. Already he was straining at the chain to even reach the air above, and it wouldn't be much longer before he was submerged entirely.

Finally, it was all he could do to keep the tip of his nose above water, but even that slowly sunk as the tide grew higher.

He held his breath as long as he could, praying for a miracle, but even that soon ran out, and he found himself sinking back to the ground below.

' _I'm sorry, everyone,'_ was his last thought as his eyes drifted shut, and the bubbles of the last of his air drifted away.

As his world started to go dark, he heard the sound of a great splash above, but then the world faded away…

* * *

Then, to his utter surprise, the world actually faded back into focus.

"Mickey!" called a pair of familiar voices above him. "Mickey! Come back to us pal!"

As he gasped and sputtered to get air back into his lungs, he was shocked to see Donald and Goofy standing above him, and looking down at him in concern.

"I think he's coming out of it," said Goofy cheerfully as Mickey finished coughing the rest of the water from his lungs.

Blearily, the mouse looked up at the two, still unable to fully comprehend what he was seeing.

"Donald?" he asked, causing the duck to smile at him. "Goofy?" he asked, upon spotting his other friend. "Pete told me you were a goner!"

Goofy shrugged with an easy smile. "Aw shucks, I ain't-" He was cut off from finishing his sentence when Mickey surged to his feet and wrapped him in a tight hug. "-Goin' nowhere without you, Mick," he finished, returning the hug.

"Hey!" said Donald, commanding attention.

Mickey beamed at him for finding his courage, and gave him a hug too. "Aw, pal, you came back."

Donald smiled as he returned the hug. "Oh, of course I did."

"We wouldn't let you down, Mick, we're your friends," added Goofy.

"Yeah," agreed Donald, handing Mickey back his hat, which had floated up from the grate. "We've gotta save the princess. Don't you remember? All for one…" He broke off, waiting for Mickey to finish the phrase, but the mouse only stared at his hat sadly.

"Aw, fellas," Mickey said miserably. "We're not even real musketeers…"

Just because he was free of the cell, didn't mean he had escaped the misery that had engulfed him there.

"Not real musketeers? Who says so?" Goofy asked with a frown, before standing tall. "Listen, Donald might be a big chicken-"

"Hey!" snapped Donald with a scowl.

"-And you're just a little guy," Goofy continued, ignoring Donald's protest and giving Mickey a noogie, making the mouse laugh. "And I ain't no genius, but I know one thing. When the three of us stick together-"

"We can do anything!" Donald finished.

Mickey stared at them as his smile slowly returned to his face. Placing his hat back on his head, he said confidently, "And not Pete-"

"Or nobody else, can stop us," Goofy completed.

Mickey's grin turned determined. "Musketeers, we've got a princess to rescue."

Donald and Goofy nodded with equal determination, and they took off for the castle.

Though on the trip there they were joined by Pluto, and some things were explained. Goofy told them all about his new girlfriend, Clarabelle (who, apparently, was Pete's former henchman, that Goofy had serenaded into sparing his life) and her "Purdy moo," while Donald spent the time grumbling how he'd "Show that stupid turtle a thing or two," much to the others' confusion.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Opera, they realized that the princess had already been captured, and the smallest of the Beagle Boys was disguised as her and had declared 'she' was giving up her throne to Captain Pete.

Determined not to let the farce continue, Mickey sent Pluto to sniff out the real princess.

The dog managed to catch up to two of the Beagle Boys carrying a large chest between them, and block them from exiting the opera house so the musketeers could catch up. From the muffled yelling coming from inside the chest, it was clear both Princess Minnie and Daisy were being held captive within it.

"Don't worry, your highness! We'll save ya!" Mickey called to them as he drew his sword on the thugs. "Alright you two, drop the Princess," he commanded.

One of the Beagle Boys smirked. "With pleasure," he said snidely as he and his friend roughly tossed the chest aside to draw their own swords, causing those inside it to scream.

With that, the musketeers and thieves met with a clash of swords.

The three were so caught up in their fight, they didn't even notice that they'd taken center stage of the opera. But the audience and the actors did, and the trio pig maidens who were currently singing upon it looked tempted to turn tail and run.

Needless to say, Pete noticed them too, and sent his third goon down to join the rest, even though said goon was still dressed as Princess Minnie, and his appearance on stage showed everyone he was a fraud.

Meanwhile, the fight was mostly at a standstill, but the musketeers had numbers on their side, and would turn the tide before much longer.

"How dare you try and kidnap the princess!" Mickey declared as they continued to duel. "Nobody walks away with the princess while Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are on the job!"

But just then, Goofy glanced back, and noticed the shortest of the Beagle Boys tugging the chest with the princess and Daisy inside away. "Hey, someone's walking away with the princess," he said, drawing the others' attention.

"Let's get 'em!" shouted Mickey, and the three promptly broke away from the sword fight to dogpile onto the shortest Beagle Boy, who let out a girlish scream as they did so.

With one Beagle Boy down, and the other two closing in, Mickey sheathed his sword, and tried to carry the chest away while his friends stood guard. Unable to lift it by himself, Donald and Goofy both tossed their swords aside to help the mouse hoist the chest into the air, and rushed off the stage and up a scaffolding, the remaining thugs close on their tail.

Upon reaching the top, the three stopped short, realizing there was nowhere else they could go except onto a prop of a large moon hanging from a pulley, which looked like it would lower them back to the stage. Taking the chance, the three hopped onto it along with the chest, and, sure enough, began drifting downwards, leaving their pursuers staring after them from the top.

Seeing this, Captain Pete decided to take matters into his own hands, jumping off his balcony seat onto the other end of the pulley. His girth proved to be greater than the combination all those on the moon, and they began rising upwards once again.

Once Pete was level with the moon, he used his peg leg to pull them both to a stop, and snatched at the chest. The musketeers grabbed the other end, and the result was a midair tug-o-war over the chest, with the audience and actors watching with baited breath over the victor.

Unfortunately, the chest soon slipped from their fingers, and began plummeting towards the ground.

"PRINCESS!" shouted Mickey in alarm, and jumped from the moon back to the middle of the scaffolding, and raced back towards the stage, somehow managing to run faster than the chest could fall and catch it, though the results for him were rather painful.

Without the added weight of Mickey, and the chest carrying the two women, the moon was suddenly even lighter than Pete than before, and began shooting back up to the Beagle Boys still waiting on the top of the scaffolding.

Seeing this, Donald and Goofy both prepared for a fight, and the Beagle Boys jumped onto the moon to give them one.

However, when Pete reached the stage, he let go of his end of the pulley, resulting in the moon falling and all four crashing stage into the prop room below.

"Two down," Captain Pete said in satisfaction, not even remorseful about taking his own men down with them. Instead he turned his attention to Mickey, and his eyes narrowed. "And one to go."

Mickey had not yet noticed Donald and Goofy's fate, as he was focused on freeing Minnie and Daisy from their confines. He even didn't notice Pete sneaking up behind him to attack, but, fortunately, the princess saw him coming through the keyhole of the chest, and shouted a warning.

Wheeling around, he saw Pete shrugging off a regal looking coat he had donned when his new status as 'king' had been announced. "This is it, squeaky," he said as he pulled out his own sword. "Mono e mouso."

Mickey quickly drew his own sword, and scowled up at his former commanding officer.

The fight had the audience on the edges of their seats as the small mouse dueled the massive cat, the former holding his own far better than any of them had anticipated.

In the end, Mickey proved to be the better swordsmen, disarming Pete, and sending his rapier flying into the air.

This should have marked Mickey's victory, but Pete wasn't one for fighting fair.

The audience gasped as the former captain sucker punched the musketeer, sending him flying through the air, and landing flat on the edge of the stage.

By the time Mickey managed to sit back up, Pete was standing above him, his recovered rapier pointed at the mouse's chest. "It's all over, Mickey," he growled threateningly. "And you're all alone."

Mickey winced at his words, finally noticing the hole, and realizing what had happened to his friends.

"And now, with you finally out of the way," Pete continued, not noticing how he was announcing his plan in front of everyone, nor that the pulley behind him was squeaking as it began to rise back up, "Gettin' rid of the princess will be easy as pie."

But Mickey was barely paying his words any mind as he watched the moon rise once again, bringing Donald and Goofy with it. The two winked at him, showing they were fine, and gestured for him to let Pete have it.

"Hah," Mickey declared confidently. "Wanna bet?"

"That's a sucker bet," Pete scoffed.

"Yeah!" said Donald behind him, clubbing him over the head with a prop magic wand. "You're the sucker!"

He and Goofy then leaped from the moon, and hurried to Mickey's side.

"Ready, musketeers?" Mickey asked as he held his sword aloft.

"Yeah!" cheered Donald and Goofy, the former holding up the fake wand, and the latter brandishing a shield.

"We lost our swords, had'ta grab some props from downstairs," Goofy explained, seeing the audience looking at them questioningly.

"All for one!" Mickey shouted as a rally cry.

"And one for all!" Donald and Goofy joined him in saying, and the three rushed Pete for one final confrontation.

Despite it being three to one, Pete hadn't become captain by being a poor swordsman. It was taking all three together to make a dent in his defenses.

Surprisingly, doing so was easier than expected, as between Mickey's sword skills Donald whacking him with the wand, and Goofy's oddball moves with his borrowed shield, which he seemed to wield far better than his sword.

But the thing that turned the tide of the fight came from an unexpected source.

Pete once again used a dirty move, this time knocking Donald and Mickey back, before tripping Goofy and aiming to bring his rapier down on his head.

"GOOFY!" shouted Donald in alarm, as he rushed to his friend's aid without a care for his own safety, swinging the prop wand wildly as he ran.

Then, much to everyone's surprise, the end of the wand lit up, and a blast of ice erupted from it, hitting Pete straight in the gut, and knocking him away from Goofy.

"What!" the former Captain shouted as he surged back to his feet.

Donald blinked at his improvised weapon in surprise, before smirking over at Pete. "How's that for a coward!" he called, having remembered his words not too long ago.

Goofy jumped back to his feet. "How's this for a doofus!" he yelled as he held his shield out in front of him as he barreled into Pete, winding him.

With the former captain gasping for air, Donald and Goofy raised Mickey up onto their shoulders in order to be high enough to deliver the finishing blow.

"And I may be small, Pete," Mickey said as he looked down at his tormenter. "But I've got friends that make me ten feet tall!"

Pete stared up at him, for once looking afraid. "Aw nuts," was all he had time to say before Mickey's fist collided with his face, knocking him unconscious, much to the approval of the crowd.

With him defeated, the three freed Minnie and Daisy from the chest, Clarabelle came running onto the stage to embrace Goofy, and all three musketeers were rewarded with a kiss from one of the maidens (even Donald, whom Daisy seemed to have taken a liking to).

All around, the audience cheered. Ecstatic to see the happy ending.

Little did they all know, it was only the beginning.

* * *

 **A/N And with that we've wrapped up the Three Musketeers part of the story, and I can get into more original territory.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _It was night in the castle courtyard, and Mickey looked up to see the boy with the key running by._

" _What's the matter, S-?" he asked. "Hold on!"_

 _The boy stopped and looked at him. "Oh, Mickey. Goofy just sort of… took off."_

 _Mickey blinked in surprise, wondering why Goofy would leave his post, when Donald suddenly ran by the two of them screaming his head off…_

… _Donald was looking at him frantically. "It was all a big lie!" he shouted, denying they were ever real musketeers._

 _Mickey winced as his words shattered his dreams, but felt the boy place a comforting hand onto his shoulder to support him…_

… _He's trapped in the cell, chained to the wall, and drowning. The only thing that hurts worse than the lack of air in his lungs is the horrible emptiness of being alone…_

… _He's not alone! They came! S-, Donald, and Goofy are all crowding around him as he wakes. Reassuring him they're alright, and inspiring him to keep fighting._

" _Wrong!" the boy declared, having heard Mickey doubt his dreams. "You_ _ **are**_ _real musketeers! And don't let anybody else tell you you're not!"_

 _Donald and Goofy quickly agreed with him, and Mickey grinned at his friends, his confidence renewed._

 _They had a princess to save…_

… _They were at the opera house confronting Pete, the princess safely behind them._

" _The jig is up, Pete!" Mickey called up to his former captain._

 _Pete looked far from threatened, as he laughed atop the pirate ship prop on the stage. He then sent a sly look at the scaffolding as it tipped and a large crate slipped off and began a collision course for their heads._

 _But at the last second, the crate vanished into thin air, leaving them all shocked._

" _Impossible!" shouted Pete in outrage._

 _Meanwhile, the boy looked ecstatic. "R-!" he shouted. "R- saved us! He's been by our side!"_

 _Mickey glanced over at him, wondering who this R- was? But he couldn't dwell on it for long, as he and his friends raced the princess to safety, leaving the boy to confront Pete and the Beagle Boys alone…_

… _Princess Minnie stood before them, holding a ceremonial sword as she dubbed the four of them royal musketeers._

 _Mickey, and the others all exchanged glances, and cheerfully held their swords together as they said the iconic words. "All for one, and one for all!"_

 _Mickey was overjoyed to achieve his dream with his best friends, Donald, Goofy, and S…"_

Mickey snapped awake, though doing so was far more pleasant than the last time he'd had such a dream.

Still, who was that boy, and what was that giant key-sword he was using? Why was he appearing in Mickey's dreams?

He lay back on his bed and tried to fall back to sleep, hoping more dreams would provide the answers.

However, the buzzing thoughts in his brain made sleep illusive, and finally he sat back up with a groan, waking Pluto in the process.

"Well, I'm not gonna get any answers laying here," he muttered to the dog as he hopped out of bed, and slipped quietly from the room in order to avoid waking Donald and Goofy.

Quiet as a mouse, he tiptoed through the castle halls until he reached the library, Pluto padding sleepily along behind him.

Lighting a small lantern, he began browsing the shelves, hoping to find something that might provide a clue to his strange dreams.

Then, he saw it.

On a shelf, not far above his head was an ancient-looking book titled, _The Keyblade War._

Keyblade! If there was ever a word to describe the strange sword the boy carried, that was it.

Curiosity burning in him now, Mickey placed the lantern down and hurried to find a stool to reach the book. Once he had it, he took it and the lantern to a nearby table and began to read.

Sadly, the book was incredibly old and damaged. Some pages were missing, and others were so faded they looked almost blank, making it very difficult for Mickey to read.

Still, he managed to gain some insight from it. The boy in his dream definitely had a keyblade, as it looked a great deal like the illustrations that filled the book's pages. From what little information he could read, he gathered that keyblades were _powerful_ weapons with some sort of power over a person's heart, and they could only be used by certain people. There once had been many keyblade wielders everywhere, but a war had broken out between them, wiping out all but a few who still lived in solitude today.

Mickey frowned, and leaned back in his chair to look at Pluto. "Well, boy, according to this, I'm not just making that kid up. I never even heard of keyblades before now, and if I didn't make them up, maybe that boy is real too…"

He frowned thoughtfully, and stared at the book, as if that would alieve its damage and provide him with the information he desired. "But why is he showing up in _my_ dreams?" he asked aloud.

Pluto had no answer, and only scratched his ear.

Now having even more questions than before, Mickey picked up the lantern again, and resumed scanning the shelves in hopes of finding another book on the subject.

By the time dawn rose, he had searched the entire library, and yielded no results, much to his disappointment.

Perhaps some questions remain unanswered.

That didn't stop the dreams from repeating occasionally in the nights that followed.

* * *

In the aftermath of Captain Pete's treachery, there was a whirlwind of work to do at the palace, keeping Mickey and his friends incredibly busy.

It turned out some of the other musketeers and palace staff had been loyal to Pete rather than the crown, and were none too happy their boss was in jail. An investigation commenced to weed them out before they caused any trouble, and Clarabelle proved instrumental in that case, having previously been on Pete's side herself.

Due to their being the ones to discover the treachery, Mickey Donald and Goofy ended up being the ones to lead the investigation, keeping them all very busy for several months.

But not so busy there was no time for other things. After the opera, Goofy began practicing using a shield as his main weapon more so than his sword. He admitted the rapier all musketeers carried had never seemed to fit correctly in his hand the way using a shield did, and using it as such allowed for several creative moves opponents had a hard time blocking. It was not a very musketeer way of fighting, but there was no denying it was effective.

Similarly with Donald, the discovery of his aptitude for magic had the duck practicing with the wand he'd found beneath the stage with great vigor (the opera staff had been kind enough to gift it to him). His skill with it grew in leaps and bounds, and his confidence grew with every new spell he learned. Gone was the cowardly duck from before, and there had been talk of promoting him from musketeer to court wizard.

Mickey, meanwhile, stuck to his sword, though he did experiment with wielding different kinds. He was quickly becoming proficient in any blade he picked up, but due to his persistent dreams, he often found himself wondering how it would be to wield something bigger and more key-shaped. However, due to the lack of texts on keyblades, he had no idea how he could even attempt to get one, as he doubted it was so simple as going to a forge and commissioning one. Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

Their busy schedules also didn't hinder the blossoming of romance

Mickey and Minnie continued courting any moment they had free time, and their love continued to bloom. After over a year of such, Mickey asked Minnie to marry him, which she joyfully accepted. However, marrying a princess was far from simple. Having not come from a family of nobles, there were several hoops they both had to jump through in order to legally do it, and even once he had done so, he was forced to undergo an extensive education the likes of which he couldn't have gotten from his small town schooling. Marrying the princess would mean they would become king and queen, and far be it they have an ill-prepared king on the throne, no matter that the majority of the power would remain with Minnie, as she was the one with royal blood.

It was a lot of work, but Mickey would always be the first to tell anyone who asked that it was worth it just to remain at Minnie's side.

Donald and Daisy continued to date as well, but were taking things far slower than the mice. Surprisingly, the two seemed to fit well together, despite their radically different personalities. Daisy proved to be one of the few who were able to calm Donald's hot temper, and Donald's spontaneity meant that Daisy was never bored, balancing the both of them out.

If Donald and Daisy were taking things slow, Goofy and Clarabelle were the exact opposite. While the subject of marriage had yet to come up, the two had a whirlwind romance that yielded a very unexpected results.

The most prominent of which came to light one day when Goofy and Clarabelle called all their friends to the throne room for a big announcement.

When they'd all arrived, Goofy and Clarabelle stood before them with matching grins on their faces.

"Hey everybody. There's someone real special Clarabelle and I want you to meet," Goofy said eagerly, holding something behind his back, and making Clarabelle snicker deviously.

The two other musketeers, the princess, and the lady in waiting all exchanged confused glances.

"Did you adopt a cat, like you were thinking about?" asked Daisy with a shrug.

"Ya made a new friend?" Mickey suggested.

"Clarabelle's parents are visiting?" asked Donald.

Goofy proudly shook his head, and with a gentle flourish, he pulled a baby out from behind his back.

A baby that, while small and chubby, already bore a striking resemblance to the one holding him.

"Everyone, meet Max!" Goofy declared excitedly. "My _son!_ Me an' Clarabelle's son!"

Everyone's jaws dropped, and Clarabelle began laughing her head off at their faces.

Oblivious to the shocked expressions on his friends faces, he then cuddled baby Max close to his chest as though he were the most precious thing in the universe. "I finally have a family," he said softly, showing that to him, Max was indeed that precious.

Mickey managed to pick up his jaw first. "Wha- I mean, wow, er, how- when-" he stuttered.

Clarabelle contained her snickers, but still sent him a devious look. "I wanted it to be a surprise," she said, which explained why few had seen her in the past few months. "And let me tell you, getting _him,"_ she jerked her thumb at Goofy, "to keep it a secret was harder than the actual pregnancy."

Goofy simply beamed at her. "O' course I wanted to tell everybody," he said. "Havin' a kid 'o my own has been my dream for even longer than wantin' to be a musketeer."

Minnie finally managed to find her voice, and she squealed, "Congratulations!" and hurried over to get a better look at the baby, something Goofy was happy to allow her to do.

"Oh, he's so cute," Daisy said enthusiastically, as she joined the princess in cooing over the infant.

"I'm happy for ya, pal," Mickey said, knowing how much this meant to his friend.

"Yeah, happy for both of you," agreed Donald, slapping Goofy on the shoulder in congratulations, but gently enough not to jostle the baby.

Goofy simply could not stop beaming.

* * *

Before Mickey knew it, two years had passed since that night at the opera, and his life couldn't be more different.

He had taken Pete's place as captain of the musketeers, he had two of the best friends he could ever hope for, and was engaged to the girl of his dreams. He would say he couldn't be happier…

… But there was one dark spot to his happiness.

After the opera, Mickey had fully intended to come clean about running away. To return to his hometown and apologize to Oswald for leaving like he did, and introduce his new friends to his family.

However, with the mess that Captain Pete had left in his wake, such things had been pushed into the background, as there was simply no time to deal with them (and if he were to be completely honest with himself, the more time passed the more he worried he had waited too long). But now, with the investigation finally closed, and his education at a lull, he suddenly had the free time he needed, and the anxiety of whether or not he should go began eating at him inside.

In the end, the choice was taken from him in a rather unexpected way.

It was an average day in the castle, birds were singing, the air was sweet, and Mickey and Minnie were taking a romantic stroll in the town, when suddenly Goofy came rushing over with a cry of "Captain Pete has escaped!"

Both mice froze, and wheeled around to look at him. "What!" they shouted.

Goofy quickly snapped a salute, and said, "But don't worry, your highness, we caught him real quick."

On cue, there was a loud commotion behind Goofy, and Mickey and Minnie both leaned over to see around him.

"GET YOU'RE LOUSY HANDS OFF A' ME, YOU LILL'-!" a struggling Pete was shouting, as Donald and several other musketeers tried to drag him to the dungeons.

There was just one problem, Mickey was quick to realize.

It was the wrong _Pete!_

"Wait, hold on a second!" Mickey shouted, having recognized his former boss from his Steamboat Willie days, and running over to help.

Hearing this, everyone stopped to look at Mickey like he was insane, and giving Pete a chance to recognize him. "Wait a minute! Boat boy!" he shouted. "Where the heck have you been?"

Mickey ignored him. "Donald, Goofy," he said to his friends. "Remember when I told you I used'ta work for Captain Pete's cousin on a steamboat, and how they looked alike?"

Donald and Goofy both nodded in confusion, but then the implication sank in, and they frowned.

"But how do you know he's Pete and not Pete?" asked Donald.

"Easy," said Mickey. "Captain Pete had a peg leg."

That gave all of them pause as they looked down to see the Pete they were detaining had two normal feet, and one couldn't exactly grow back missing limbs.

All the musketeers quickly dropped him with an apology, which Pete did not accept, given the way he was still hopping mad.

"Why I oughta!" he started to say, but was cut off when a loud voice echoed through the town loud enough to make the buildings shake.

"PETE! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Pete immediately straighten up, and called back in a far more pleasant voice. "O-over here, sweetcakes."

The source of the voice shoved her way through the musketeers, revealing a tall, slim and pretty female cat in pink, carrying a baby on her hip, and a dark look on her face.

But upon the sight of Pete, she immediately brightened, and hurried over to him. "There you are, Sweetie-Petie," she said in a kind voice. "PJ and I were wondering where you were."

"Sweetie-Petie?" Donald asked with a snicker.

Pete shot him a glare, but quickly turned his attention back to the new arrival. "It was nothin', Peg. Just a bit o' a mix up. These folks here was mistakin' me for my good for nothin' cousin, but my old boat boy cleared it up," he said, jerking his thumb towards Mickey at the last part.

The woman, Peg apparently, gave a small gasp. "You mean that kook who tried to steal the crown. How awful." She then turned gave Mickey a smile. "Thank you for helping him."

Mickey stepped back, flustered. "Oh, uh, no problem, ma'am. But, uh, who are ya?"

Pete reeled back as if insulted Mickey didn't already know. "Why this is my wife, Peg, and our son Pete Junior," he said waving his hand at the woman and the baby. "Them twos the lights of my life, so show some respect."

"Awww you," cooed Peg, leaning over to kiss Pete on the cheek.

Mickey blinked bewilderedly at the scene before him, wondering who on Disney would want to marry Pete of all people? Either of the Petes?

However, Pete and Peg then hastily bowed as Princess Minnie came up behind Mickey. "You would do well to show some respect yourself," she said, eyeing Pete coolly. "You are addressing my fiancé and your future king."

Pete paled. "K-k-king?" he stuttered, no doubt remembering all the times he'd pushed Mickey around while he was working for him.

Peg, meanwhile, had no such worries. "Oh, congratulations on your engagement!" she said cheerfully. "My, that royal wedding's sure to be the event of the decade, if not the century!"

Satisfied she'd made her point, Minnie giggled and began gossiping with Peg about wedding plans, and the musketeers returned to their guard posts around the princess, leaving Mickey with Pete.

"Well, for a boat boy, you certainly know how to clean up," Pete said awkwardly, clearly hoping to get off on a better foot with Mickey. "Gotta say, I'm surprised. Never thought I'd see the day you and that brother o' yours would split up."

Mickey's face fell at the mention of his brother. "H-how is Oswald?" he asked.

Pete gave him a funny look. "Ya mean ya ain't been keeping in touch? I'd think you'd wanna brag all about how yous been livin' in a cas-" he started to say, but broke off as he glanced over at the castle, and something caught his eye. "Huh, that's one weird way to clean a window," he said.

"Huh?" Mickey asked, turning to look.

Following his gaze, Mickey was just in time to see two dark figures who were definitely not cleaning staff slipping into the castle through a balcony window.

"Break in at the castle!" the mouse shouted, drawing the attention of all the musketeers. "Half of ya follow me, the rest protect Princess Minnie!"

With that he ran as fast as he could back towards the castle, Donald, Goofy, and a handful of other musketeers at his heels, and leaving Pete in his dust.

No one was stealing anything from the castle if they had anything to say about it.

* * *

 **A/N Sorry for the cliffhanger, but this chapter got a bit too long without it. Who's breaking in, and why? Well, you'll have to find that out next week.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Upon reaching the castle, the group of musketeers branched out into sets of three to search the castle from top to bottom, and Mickey, Donald and Goofy stuck together for their group.

"Gawrsh, where d'ya think they went?" asked Goofy, looking around as if the bad guys would pop out of a corner any second.

"Well, if you were a thief, where'd ya try to steal from?" asked Mickey.

Goofy had to think about it, but Donald had an immediate response. "The throne room," he rasped. "That's where the crown jewels are kept when the princess isn't wearing them."

"That's it!" agreed Mickey, and he took off running, his friends at his heels.

"How'd ya know that, Donald?" asked Goofy as they ran.

"Daisy showed me where they're hidden," Donald said. "She likes shiny things."

"Birds of a feather, huh?" Mickey called behind him with a laugh, knowing Donald was a sucker for treasure as well.

Donald grumbled in response, unable to refute it.

When they reached the throne room, however, they were surprised to see that instead of the crown jewels being stolen, the entire throne had seemingly been shoved to the side, revealing a steep staircase beneath it, going downwards into darkness. Several Mickey-sized machines were resting next to the throne, looking as though they had been the ones to move it, but were now deactivated.

"The castle basement!" squawked Donald in surprised.

"So this is where the entrance is," said Goofy, fascinated at the sight of the one place they had not been able to go as janitors.

"The bad guys must be down there," Mickey said, drawing his sword. "C'mon, fellas. Let's get 'em."

Donald and Goofy nodded, and drew their wand and shield respectively, and followed the mouse down the stairs to the basement.

As they hurried along, they began hearing voices up ahead, and Mickey brought his finger to his lips to signal the others to be quiet, and tip toed the last few flights of stairs to the doorway at the end.

Within a great white room stood the artifact Mickey hadn't seen since the construction of the castle. A massive spherical crystal that glowed with a soothing light, set onto a wooden base like a crystal ball stood proudly in the center of the room, as two figures paced in front of it, arguing with each other.

"Incompetent fool!" shouted one as she turned from the cornerstone to reveal she was a tall, severe looking woman in a long black dress and a pointed silver crown on her head. "We come all this way, and you brought nothing to carry it out with."

The second figure, a hunched, bald man with a gray beard wearing a stained lab coat, gave a scoff at her words. "You never told me it would be this big, and I do not see you offering any solutions, Mizrabel," he said. "Perhaps you can simply 'magic' it out."

The woman, Mizrabel, scowled at him. "I had thought the famed Mad Doctor would have done his research," she snapped. "Very well, I will deal with this myself."

"Speaking of, don't forget our own deal," the Mad Doctor said pointedly. "We would not have gotten this far without my inventions."

"Yes, yes," Mizrabel said dismissively. "Once I plunge this world into darkness, you may study it to your hearts content."

"Plunge the world into darkness?" Goofy gasped.

"They're gonna steal the cornerstone!" said Donald urgently.

"Well, we'll stop 'em," said Mickey confidently. "Attack on my mark, fellas. One… two…"

But before he could reach three, Mizrabel reached out to rest her hand upon the Cornerstone of Light, no doubt to attempt some spell to steal it away.

But the second her hand touched its crystal surface, the cornerstone pulsed, and unleashed a shockwave of light, sending Mizrabel and the Mad Doctor sprawling.

Seeing the threats seemingly taken care of, Goofy scratched his head. "Well that was easy," he said.

He'd spoken too soon, as the villains quickly got back to their feet. "Musketeers!" shouted the Mad Doctor at the sight of them. "Quick, take the cornerstone and let's go!" he said to Mizrabel.

"I can't!" Mizrabel snarled. "It senses the darkness in both our hearts, it will not let us near it!"

"Good to know," said Mickey, stepping forward and brandishing his sword in their direction. "By the power invested in me as a musketeer, I arrest you two. Now surrender."

The two villains sneered at his words, and the Mad Doctor said, "I think not." He then brought his fingers to his lips, and let out a piercing wistle.

Instantly, a loud clanking sound came from the top of the stairs, and the musketeers turned to see the machines that had been resting in the throne room had reactivated, and were charging down the stairs, all claws and sharp edges.

The three had to dodge out of the way to avoid being run over by the robotic monstrosities, allowing Mizrabel and the Mad Doctor to dash past and up the stairs.

"Kill them, my beetleworx!" the Mad Doctor commanded his creations as he raced away, leaving the musketeers at the mercy of the machines.

"What are these things?" Goofy asked as the beetleworx began surrounding them on all sides.

"I don't know, but we have to take them out," said Donald, and promptly launched a fireball at a machine that got too close.

The beetleworx exploded, triggering the others to charge at the three musketeers.

"Get 'em!" shouted Mickey as he charged forward and stabbed his sword into one of the beetleworx's mechanical eye.

Donald and Goofy attacked as well, though it was clear Donald's magic was much more effective than Mickey's sword or Goofy's shield.

"Must not like magic," Donald said with a wicked grin as he impaled one with an ice shard. "Goodie!"

Seeing this, Mickey rolled his eyes. "Donald, sometimes I worry about you."

Donald turned to look at him, no doubt to give a snippy remark, only for his eyes to widen in horror. "MICKEY! LOOK OUT!" he shouted frantically, pointing at something behind the mouse.

Mickey turned around just in time to see a beetleworx ram into him, winding him and knocking him to the ground, allowing it to tower over him.

As Mickey tried to recover his breath, he looked up to see the machine raising its large spear-like feet into the air, about to bring it down and skewer him. Unable to move, the mouse could only squeeze his eyes shut and wait for the blow.

He was going to die…

The beetleworx brought its sharp edge down, only for Goofy to dive between it and Mickey at the last second, blocking the attack with his shield.

"You okay, Mick?" Goofy asked in concern.

Before Mickey could answer, and outraged Donald leaped over both him and Goofy to get a clear shot at the attacking machine, and blasted it with a fireball so strong it flew clear across the room and smashed against the far wall.

"Don't _ever_ hurt my friends!" the duck shouted, seething as he destroyed the remaining beetleworx with a lightning spell.

Goofy helped Mickey back to his feet, and the mouse gave them both a grateful smile. "Thanks, fellas. Now let's go catch those bad guys!"

The three raced up the stair to hear shouts coming from outside the throne room. It seemed the other musketeers had spotted the two villains in their attempt to escape, and were now giving chase out of the castle.

The trio were set to join them, but Daisy rushing over to them as they left the throne room gave them pause.

"What in the world were you three doing in there?" she asked, her expression bewildered.

"That's where the bad guys were," said Donald.

"Them an' their machine monsters. We had'ta fight 'em off," added Goofy.

"They were talking about stealing the Cornerstone of Light," Mickey concluded.

They saw Daisy pale beneath her feathers. "The _Cornerstone!"_ she exclaimed, before grabbing Mickey by the sleeve, and dragging him back towards the village. "Come on, we have to tell the princess right away," she said, then turned back to Donald and Goofy. "You two guard this door. No one goes in until we come back with Minnie, understand?"

Donald and Goofy both snapped a salute at her words. "Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

With that done, Mickey and Daisy hurried back to where the mouse had left his betrothed, and told her everything. Upon hearing Mickey's tale, her expression grew serious. "Take me to the Cornerstone," she commanded. "I must call in experts to see that it is unharmed."

* * *

A few minutes later, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy found themselves standing guard of the Conerstone room. Minnie stood before the stone itself, looking tense, while Daisy stood next to her, attempting to calm the princess down.

Upon reaching the castle, the princess had contacted the experts she had mentioned before, and was now awaiting their arrival to check the Cornerstone of Light for any corruption from the intruders.

Finally, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs reached their ears, and they turned to see three men coming down the steps towards them.

One was an elderly man with a long gray beard, dressed in a long blue robe, and a tall pointed hat decorated with stars.

The second was also an old man, this one bald and hunched with darker skin and a gray goatee, and a long dark coat.

The last one appeared younger than the other three (but that could just be that his hair was black instead of gray like the others). He wore a long white coat, with armor poking out of the front.

But the thing that caught Mickey's attention the most was that in their hands, all three carried their own-

"Keyblades!" the mouse exclaimed.

Everyone in the room turned to stare at him in surprise.

Mickey, realizing he had spoken out loud, flushed and ducked his head. Still, he said, "Ah, those are keyblades… right?"

The man with the pointed hat regarded Mickey with a stern expression. "Yes, they are," he said slowly. "But how is it that you are knowledgeable of them?"

Sensing that the man wanted to continue talking to the mouse, the other two moved on to converse with the princess, waving Donald and Goofy to follow them to give Mickey and the man some privacy.

Mickey shuffled nervously, feeling like he was being scrutinized by an especially strict teacher. "I, uh, I read some stuff in a book about them. Not much, the book wasn't exactly, uh, complete."

"Oh," said the man, raising an eyebrow as if he _knew_ there was more he was holding back.

After a few more seconds of fidgeting under his gaze, Mickey admitted, "Actually, I, uh, I've been having dreams a-about a boy who has one. He-he shows up, and fights monsters, a-and acts like he's my friend, but I don't even know his name." Mickey took off his hat, and scratched his head, laughing nervously. "Sound's crazy, huh?"

The man reached up to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "No, not 'crazy'." He then studied Mickey again, and asked, "What is your name, young one?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Mickey," Mickey said. "Mickey Mouse, sir."

"I am Yen Sid," the man said, holding his keyblade out for Mickey to see. "Sorcerer and Master of the Keyblade. Tell me, does such a blade interest one such as you?"

Mickey admired the sword appreciatively, and said, "Yes, from what I've read about them, they sound amazing."

"And what would you do with a blade such as this?" Yen Sid continued.

Mickey frowned, as the thought had never occurred to him. "Well, I suppose I'd use it to protect the princess and my friends."

"Just them?" Yen Sid asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mickey's frown deepened, and he crossed his arms as he contemplated that. "No, not just them," he said finally. "I'd protect everyone. The people in the villages, the other musketeers, my family, everyone!"

The man smiled, and Mickey got the feeling he had just passed some sort of test. "A noble goal," he said.

Mickey ducked his head, feeling bashful. "Ah shucks. Not like it matters, anyway. You're the one with the keyblade, not me."

Yen Sid raised an eyebrow. "And would the lack of such a thing stop you in this?"

Mickey blinked, then shook his head vehemently. "No, sir, I'll do it anyway. I-it's one of the reasons why I became a musketeer."

Yen Sid actually chuckled at that. "Very good," he said. He then shifted the keyblade in his hand, and held it out so that the hilt was pointed at the mouse.

Mickey stared at it for a moment, before reaching out and taking the keyblade from the sorcerer's hand. Above him, he heard Yen Sid mutter something that sounded like an incantation, but he was too distracted by the fact he was holding a literal legend in his hand.

Then, in a blink, the keyblade shone with a bright light and vanished from the mouse's hand, before reappearing in Yen Sid's.

"Wow!" exclaimed Mickey in awe.

Yen Sid nodded, but before he could say anything more, one of his companions, the dark-haired one, called over to him. "Yen Sid, we're done here. The Cornerstone was not damaged in the recent intrusion. Are you ready."

Yen Sid turned to his friend and said, "Yes, I believe so." He then glanced back down at Mickey, and said, "I look forward to seeing you again, young one. Good luck."

"Good luck?" Mickey repeated as the sorcerer turned to leave with the other keyblade masters. "Good luck with what?"

But Yen Sid didn't answer, and he and the other two all vanished in a flash of light, leaving the mouse bewildered and his friends all curious what they had been talking about. Though, to be honest, Mickey was currently wondering that himself.

* * *

With a flash of light, the three keyblade masters appeared outside Yen Sid's tower home.

Master Xehanort turned to Yen Sid. "You performed the ceremony on the mouse," he stated, his voice betraying nothing of what he thought of the matter.

"I did," Yen Sid confirmed.

Xehanort waited to see if the sorcerer would elaborate. When he did not, he asked, "Why? You have never shown an interest in any prospective student before. What is so special about this one?"

"I do admit, it is a surprise," said the other master, Eraqus. "I was beginning to think the great Yen Sid would never take on a student of his own, much less choose a mouse of all people."

Yen Sid began stroking his beard. "The mouse, Mickey, had a strong light in him, and a strong heart. Given time, he will make a fine keyblade wielder."

"Yet you did not tell him you had marked him as such," said Eraqus. "Do you think that is wise?"

Yen Sid glanced at the two of them, and said, "While his heart is strong, I sensed that there was something causing it to waver. Some fear he has yet to face. Until he makes peace with it, the keyblade will not heed his call. He will have to summon it on his own before I can truly begin to teach him."

"And do you think he will face this fear?" asked Eraqus.

Yen Sid looked upwards at the star that was the world they had just left. "Only time will tell."

With that, the sorcerer turned, and entered his tower, and the other two masters moved on to their own worlds to return to their own students.

* * *

 **A/N So now we get into the more original portions of this story. What do you think so far?**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

After the fiasco with the Cornerstone of the Light, the last thing that anyone expected from Mickey was for him to request time off.

And yet, that is exactly what the mouse requested one week afterwards, surprising everyone.

It was not a spur of the moment decision. Nearly getting killed for a second time since becoming a musketeer had put some things into perspective for the mouse.

(Not to mention, the near-death experience had brought on a new round of nightmares, and this time there was no friendly keyblade boy to come save the day.)

As such, after much deliberating, Mickey found he couldn't delay it any longer.

He was going to go home to his family. He had to before the next disaster happened that might make it impossible. He _needed_ to make things right with Oswald. Otherwise the constant worry of never doing so would eat him up inside.

And so, on that fine day, he made his formal request to Princess Minnie, much to his fiancé's surprise.

Seeing her stunned expression, Mickey's face fell. "Is that a no?" he asked.

Minnie quickly shook herself out of her surprise, and said, "Oh, no, no, no. You're welcome to take a vacation if you choose to.

"It's just you haven't asked for one in the entire time you've been here," explained Daisy, as she and their other friends had been present for Mickey's request.

"Not even when we were working as janitors," added Donald.

Mickey scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Yeah, well, uh, I just didn't want to go home until I'd become a musketeer, and then we were so busy afterwards… It's just been so long since I've seen my family, that I thought…"

"Your family?" asked Minnie curiously.

Goofy frowned. "Ya know, now that I think about it, ya never did tell us much about your family, Mick. I was beginnin' ta think ya didn't have one."

Mickey winced at his friend's words, an action that did not go unnoticed by the others. "We… I didn't leave on the best of terms. My fault, really," he quickly added, not wanting to give them a bad impression of Oswald before they even met him. "It's just… With the stuff with Captain Pete finally done, and those bad guys chased away, I want to take the time to make it up to my brother and his family. Is that alright?"

Minnie smiled graciously at him. "Of course you can," she said. "On one condition."

At his startled expression, she winked and said, "If possible, you must bring them to me to visit. I would love to meet them. Especially since they'll soon be _my_ family too."

Mickey beamed at her. "Gosh, Minnie, they're gonna love you. No doubt about that."

"Do you want us to come with you, Mickey?" Donald offered.

"Yeah, all for one, and one for all," added Goofy.

Mickey considered it, but in the end shook his head. "Thanks, fellas. I'd appreciate that, but… this is something I have to do on my own. I made this mess, and I'll make up for it. But you guys can come next time."

' _If there will be a next time,'_ Mickey added in his head, knowing without a doubt his brother was going to be furious with him.

* * *

Even though he'd committed to finally go home and face his family, that didn't stop the nerves from plaguing him the entire journey home. And it was a long journey to contemplate over it, as he had chosen to forgo any means of transportation in favor of walking back to his village.

At first, his friends had been confused as to this choice, as it was a long trek down the river to the village, but Mickey had taken that route to get to the castle, it was only fitting he took the same to get back. Besides, since he would hopefully be returning with Oswald and his family in tow, it was better he walked, as that would no doubt be their way back. No carriage or boat they could afford could ever hope to be big enough to hold all the children, especially if there had been even more born since he'd left.

(When he'd told Minnie and his friends this, the looks on their faces clearly showed them wondering just what kind of family he came from.)

But the problem with walking to his hometown when he was dreading the outcome, it tended to cause him to drag his feet. If Pluto hadn't come with him to drag Mickey along by the dog's teeth whenever he started to lag, it was likely the mouse would have never gotten there.

Then, at last, as he passed over the final hill he set his gaze upon the familiar town for the first time in over two years.

"Welp, here we are, Pluto," Mickey said as he stared at the buildings scattered before him, before resting on a particular house. "No turning back now," he added, as if trying to convince himself.

Pluto rolled his eyes and butted his head against Mickey's back to get him moving.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Mickey protested to keep the dog from pushing him all the way to Oswald's front door. He then cast a glance at the setting sun, and muttered, "Oswald should be getting home from the trolley about now, so at least we won't miss him."

Pluto gave him one last shove, and barked in agreement.

Soon enough a familiar house came into sight, same gated fence, same bushes lining the walkway, same tree with a swing off to the side, even the same types of flowers blooming in the garden. It was as if nothing had changed, and Mickey had just come back from a day working on Pete's steamboat.

With a gulp, Mickey started up the front walk to the door. At first it seemed the whole neighborhood was quiet…

Then, suddenly one of his nieces fell out of a bush and landed at his feet.

The small, bunny child stared up at the mouse in shock, before a wide grin slowly spread across her face.

"HEY EVERYBODY, UNCLE MICKEY'S HOME!" the bunny bellowed so loudly that Mickey was sure they heard her all the way back at the castle.

There was a beat of silence, before a loud rumbling sound reached Mickey's ears, causing Pluto to bolt for cover, and growing louder and louder until he recognized it for what it was.

A bunny stampede.

"Oh no," was all Mickey had time to utter before a tidal wave of young bunnies came pouring out of every direction to pounce on him with an exuberant cry of, " _ **UNCLE MICKEY!"**_

Getting crushed under the world's most enthusiastic hug by his nieces and nephews was not the way Mickey had thought he would go.

Salvation came in the form of Ortensia's scolding voice, which could barely be heard over the din of excited bunnies.

"Alright, that's enough," she said. "You'll all get your chance to hug him, but right now you need to let him up."

There was chorus of disappointed groans as slowly but surely the children got up off him, leaving a rumpled looking Mickey lying on the ground.

His sister-in-law giggled, and hurried to help him up, before giving him a hug of her own (causing many of the children to complain that she got a turn before them). "I'm so glad you're home," she said. "We were so worried about you."

Mickey immediately felt guilty, and hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Ortensia. I-I shouldn't have left like that."

Ortensia then drew back, and shook her finger at him. "No you shouldn't. You scared us half to death when we woke up and you were nowhere to be found."

Mickey bowed his head, in shame. "Sorry," he said again, then looked up and glanced around for the one face he had yet to see. "Where-where's Oswald."

Ortensia opened her mouth to reply, but stopped as she spotted something over Mickey's shoulder, and instead raised her hand to point behind him.

Mickey turned to see his older brother standing at the gate, no doubt having just come home from work.

Instantly the air tensed, as all saw the look on the rabbit's face. Oswald was glaring at Mickey with a deep scowl, making the mouse fidget in his spot. "So," he grumbled, "you've finally come home."

Mickey winced at his tone. He'd been expecting it. He knew Oswald better than anyone, and thus knew his hot temper better than anyone. This conversation could go many ways, but 'easy' wasn't one of them. Still, he said, "Oswald, I-I'm so sorry-"

"Oh now you're sorry!" the rabbit snapped angrily. "You sure didn't seem sorry when you left! Or when you lied! Or when you didn't come home for _two whole years!"_

(Seeing the argument unfold, Ortensia quickly ushered the children into the house, despite their many protests, and Pluto slunk into the house after them with his tail between his legs.)

Mickey quickly felt his nervousness melt away and be replaced by indignation. He was ashamed for running away and not coming back for a while, but there was one thing wrong with Oswald's accusation. " _I_ lied?" he snapped, the anger and frustration he had felt since the night he'd eavesdropped on Oswald's true opinion of him rising to the surface. "Who was the one who said they believed in me? I never lied to you, Ossie, but you sure lied to me!"

Oswald gave a sarcastic laughed. "Oh that's rich!" he practically shouted, his face contorted in rage. "You runaway, break our hearts, and come home just to accuse _me_ of lying? What, a big shot 'hero' like yourself thinks you're too good for us now?"

"I didn't lie!" Mickey snapped. "You lied!"

"And you _left!"_ Oswald shouted back.

And just like that, something snapped and both of them were shouting their heads off at each other, tearing into each other with vile words bellowed in the heat of the moment, hurting more than any blow Mickey had taken as a musketeer, more than the agony of being unable to breath in that water-filled dungeon, but still he snapped back with every hurtful thing he could think of to say, and Oswald gave back as good as he got.

Finally, the two were left breathless as they stared seething at each other, the words said having finally caught up to them, and both rendered to angry and hurt to even speak.

It was Oswald who broke the silence first, as he turned on his heel, and marched off, stomping his feet the entire way.

Mickey had half a mind to shout something rude after him, but with the adrenalin of the fight rapidly leaving him, he couldn't muster up the energy or will to do so.

Behind him, he heard the door of the house open up, and turned to see Ortensia step out it, and winced at the expression of deep disappointment on her face. "Feel better now?" she asked in an almost sarcastic tone.

The question took the remaining wind out of Mickey's sails, and he slumped in defeat. "No," he muttered morosely. "I didn't- I never meant- _Why_ I say those things?" he moaned, burying his face in his hands.

Ortensia sighed. "This is something that has been building up ever since you left that night," she said. "Maybe even longer than that. Perhaps it's better you've both gotten it off your chests, but what matters now is that you fix it before it gets worse."

Mickey had to nod, knowing she was right. Still… "Why did he say I lied to him?" he asked earnestly. "I did the rest, but I never lied."

Ortensia studied him for a moment, before saying, "That's something you'll have ask him about, Mickey. Not me."

Mickey nodded again, glancing in the direction that Oswald had stormed off too.

"You'll find him at the pier," Ortensia explained, sensing the question he was about to ask. "You better hurry."

Needing no further prompting, Mickey hurried off down the familiar path he used to take for his old job on Steamboat Willie.

Make that _exactly_ like going to his job on Steamboat Willie, as said boat was currently beached by the pier when he reached it.

And sitting on the roof of the cabin, next to the whistles was Oswald, staring out at the water with a moody expression.

Mickey could only stare bewildered at the sight before him. He assumed that Pete had taken his beloved steamboat with him when he and Peg had moved to the capital after their marriage.

Apparently not.

When he finally managed to get to his feet moving again, the sound of his footsteps drew his brother's attention.

Oswald glared down at him. "I thought you were going to leave again," he said bitingly.

"I… can't… I didn't do what I came here to do yet," Mickey replied hesitantly, not wanting to start another fight.

Oswald snorted, and looked away.

Mickey opened his mouth to apologize only to pause. He knew his brother. He knew Oswald was extremely stubborn, and could hold a grudge for decades if left to do so. When Oswald set his mind to being angry at someone, no amount of apologies would get through to him. The only way to get him to even consider listening to Mickey was to shock him out of his funk first, so instead, Mickey asked, "Why do you have Pete's boat?"

Oswald rolled his eyes, and said, "Well, you haven't been _home_ in a while, so I guess you haven't heard. Pete managed to snag himself a blushing bride, and sold it to pay for the wedding."

Mickey frowned. "I know that. I met the bride. Peg's nice," he stated, making Oswald raise an eyebrow at him. "That wasn't what I was asking, though. Why do _you_ have Pete's boat?" he put extra emphasis on the 'you'.

That did it, as Oswald immediately looked flustered, and looked anywhere but at Mickey. "T-The kids like it," he said, though it was clear he was lying through his teeth. "I-I take them sailing sometimes when they're good."

Now it was Mickey's turn to raise an eyebrow as he stared up at his brother skeptically. "There's no way all your children would fit on this boat, and on top of that, you get seasick," he said with a deadpan tone.

"Ortensia drives!" Oswald burst out.

"She hates water even more than you do!" Mickey countered bluntly.

Irate at being caught in his lie, Oswald turned back to him looking red in the face. "It's none of your business why I bought it!" he snapped. "It's not like I missed you or anything!" He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, making it clear he had not intended to say that last bit.

But Mickey heard it anyway, and a slow smile began to spread across his face. "You-you missed me, Ossie?" he asked.

Oswald turned away again, and grumbled incomprehensively.

"'Cause, well, I sure missed you a ton these last two years," Mickey continued hopefully.

Oswald's head snapped back around so fast, Mickey was worried he might hurt himself. "Then why didn't you come back sooner!" he exclaimed.

Taking that as an invitation, Mickey climbed up to join him on the roof of the boat before continuing, "I wanted to come back sooner, but things had gotten _so_ busy until recently I didn't have any time to. And then… I was kinda ashamed to come back. I knew you'd be mad I'd left."

Oswald couldn't refute that, as his reaction to Mickey's return had only proven him correct. Instead, he asked in a softer voice, "Then why did you leave?"

Mickey hesitated before answering. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I know I shouldn't have, but I-I overheard you and Ortensia talking that night," he admitted sincerely, pulling off his musketeer hat to look down at it. "My whole life I've _wanted_ to be a musketeer, and you were always my strongest support for that dream. My only support, really. Hearing that it was all a lie… that hurt."

Oswald winced hearing that, giving Mickey a chance to ask his own question. "Why did you think that _I'd_ lied?" he asked, as the accusation had been bothering him. "Lied about what?"

That turned Oswald indignant again. "Did you really think I had no idea where you'd gone?" he asked. "It took me a day or so to get off work, but the second I could I was heading for the capital to come get you. But when I got there, some Pete lookalike told me he'd turned you down as a musketeer, and you'd gone on your way. I looked _all over_ for where you could have gone, only to find out that you were in the Musketeers all along, and that you'd had that lookalike _lie_ to me to get me off your trail!" he accused.

Mickey blinked rapidly as he tried to comprehend all that Oswald had said, before slapping himself on the forehead, and cursed Captain Pete under his breath for screwing with him even now.

"How'd you know I made musketeer?" he asked, his hand still massaging his forehead.

His reaction had thrown Oswald off guard, and the rabbit answered, "Hard not to hear about the mouse who saved the princess at an opera full of spectators. People gossip, ya know. And a story like that wouldn't take any time to spread."

Mickey took a deep breath and let it out before speaking again. "That fella you met was Pete's cousin, Captain Pete (apparently, it's a family name). He _did_ turn me down for musketeer at first, but I kept working at the castle as a janitor, hoping I could work my way up. I didn't even know you'd stopped by."

Oswald looked as though he wasn't sure if he should believe him. "Why would he lie?"

Mickey scowled. "Captain Pete had a twisted sense of humor, and probably thought steering you in the wrong direction was funny. He sure never told me someone came asking for me."

Oswald looked even more bewildered now. "Then how did you become a musketeer?" he asked. "I doubt you worked your way up _that_ fast."

Mickey's smile shifted to a smirk. "Long story, but the captain was also corrupt and wanted to make himself king. To do that, he wanted musketeers that would fail at a job, so he hired me and my friends thinking we'd be incompetent, but we sure showed him."

Oswald looked like he didn't know what to think, but he didn't look angry anymore, so Mickey counted that as a win.

Finally, Oswald groaned, and flopped back onto the roof of the boat. "Only you, Mickey. Only you."

Knowing he'd been forgiven, Mickey grinned widely.

Sitting back up, Oswald gave him a bland look and asked, "Any other life changing information I should know about."

Mickey chuckled nervously, and twiddled his thumbs. "Well, uh, ya know, I didn't get a girlfriend who can cook, but, uh, she has servants who can do it for her," he said.

Oswald blinked. "What?" he asked.

Mickey flushed red and said, "Well, um, part of the reason it took me so long to come home is that I kinda… sorta… got engaged to the princess…"

Oswald's jaw dropped in shock, and he could only sit there gaping at Mickey. "You're serious?" he managed to croak out after a full minute.

"As a heart attack," said Mickey.

Oswald stared for a moment longer, then a small chuckle began in his chest. The sound grew louder and louder until the rabbit was laughing his head off, causing Mickey to grow steadily redder.

"Way to go, Mickey Mouse!" the rabbit said jovially, slapping his little brother on the back. "Leave it to you to fall in love with a princess. I've got first dibs on being best man, you know that right."

Mickey managed to chuckle along with him. "Sure, Oswald. It's a promise."

"So how'd you meet?" asked Oswald, still amused.

Mickey looked embarrassed, which made Oswald all the more eager to hear the story. "Well, uh, Captain Pete hired us to be her bodyguards, and, uh, we met when my friends and I accidentally attacked her lady in waiting…"

That sent Oswald into another round of laughter as Mickey began telling him the whole story.

By the time they got home, it was well into the night, and the two brothers were laughing and talking like the best of friends once again.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the castle, all was quiet in the halls where the princess slept, and the musketeers stood guard.

Two such guards were marching back and forth before the doorway to the throne room, keeping their eyes peeled for any sort of movement. After the debacle with the intruders not too long ago, security on the room and the Cornerstone with in it had increased, and it was never without a guard at the door.

Suddenly, one stopped as a sound reached his ears, a scuttling metallic sound that gave him chills up his spine. He wheeled towards the sound, brandishing his sword, and drawing the attention of his comrade, who quickly followed suite, but as they stared down the darkened hallway the noise had originated from, they saw nothing there.

The two exchanged glances, wondering if the sound had been imagined, before something fell between them with a soft 'plunk', and they looked down just in time to see a small blinking ball, before it released a cloud of gas that left the guards unconscious on the ground not a moment later.

With the guards out of the way, the source of the scuttling noise slipped past them and into the throne room, quickly making its way past the protections to its prize.

By the time the sleeping guards were discovered, it was already too late.

The Cornerstone of Light was gone.

* * *

 **A/N And so the two of them bury the hatchet. I hope this went well. I know with my brother and sister we can have loud screaming matches over nothing, so I hope that aspect of their fight was realistic. But they made up in the end, and that's what matters. Still, things can't be completely patched over after one conversation.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 _Mickey was dreaming again, he had to be. Flashes of stained glass windows, pedestals with weapons, and odd questions flashed through his mind, but were fading before he could fully remember them…_

… _Finally he opened his eyes to find himself on solid ground. Only in this dream, the strange boy with the keyblade was nowhere in sight. Instead, he was standing on the familiar Steamboat Willie once again, but this time it was in the water, sailing towards his hometown, looking as though it was ready to dock at any moment._

" _What am I doin' here?" he asked himself, wondering if he was awake or still dreaming. "What's goin' on?"_

 _As he looked around, he caught sight of a familiar cat._

" _Ortensia?" he asked, hurrying towards his sister-in law who standing next to the gangplank to disembark the boat._

 _Ortensia turned to look at him, her face serene. "Mickey," she said softly. "What are you afraid of?"_

 _Mickey blinked at the strange question, but gave it some thought before answering. "Gosh," he said thoughtfully. "I guess it's… losing the people close to me."_

 _Ortensia nodded at the answer just as the boat arrived at the dock._

 _Distracted, Mickey glanced down at the dock at the path heading towards his house, before turning back to Ortensia, only to jump in shock as he realized she had vanished._

" _Ortensia?" he asked, looking around frantically, but the cat was nowhere in sight._

 _Figuring he must have missed her disembarking the boat, he hurried off of it, and towards home, in hopes of meeting her there._

 _But when he reached his house, instead of Ortensia, Oswald was leaning against the gate, watching as he came up._

" _Hey, Ossie, what's going on?" Mickey asked as he arrived._

 _Oswald's expression was the same as Ortensia's had been, and he also had a question. "Hey little brother, what would you say is most important to you?" he asked._

 _Though taken aback by another strange question, Mickey gave it the same amount of thought before answering. "Well, I suppose that'd be keeping my promises. Both the ones I make to myself, and to others."_

 _Oswald flashed him a familiar grin before a rustling sound drew Mickey's attention elsewhere, when he turned back, Oswald was gone._

" _Ossie?" Mickey asked, looking around for his brother, but it was easy to see that both the house and yard were deserted._

 _Bewildered as to the strange events, Mickey found himself wondering through the town until his feet led him to the bridge where he and Oswald had been mugged and then saved, inspiring him to become a musketeer. The location had always held a special place in his heart after that encounter, and he gave it a passing glance as he walked by._

 _Only to stop dead in is tracks as he caught sight of just who was standing atop the bridge looking down at him._

" _Oh gosh," Mickey gasped, unable to believe his eyes, before bolting to the end of the bridge to reach the figure, almost convinced he was seeing things._

 _There was no way he could be… It wasn't possible for him to…_

 _But there he was, standing in the middle of the bridge as Mickey reached him, gasping for breath from his sprint._

 _Mickey and Oswald's father, Walt Disney._

" _Dad?" gasped Mickey as he stared up at the person he hadn't seen in years, and hadn't had any hope to see again outside of photographs. "How can you be here?" he asked desperately. "You-you… died…"_

 _Walt's moustache twitched as he smiled down at the mouse, but instead of answers, he only asked, "My son, what do you wish for?"_

 _More questions. Mickey wasn't even surprised anymore (of course he was so overwhelmed at seeing his father again, he didn't really have enough room in him to be surprised)._

" _I wish for…" Mickey said, mulling it over. In all honesty, if he'd been asked two years ago for his wish, he'd say 'to be a musketeer' in a heartbeat. But now that he had achieved his dream, he was unsure what he wanted now. Especially when he'd made up with his brother, had wonderful friends, and was set to marry the girl of his dreams. What more was there to wish for?_

" _I wish for happiness," he said finally, "for everyone."_

 _Walt smiled proudly down at him, before vanishing right before Mickey' eyes, and the rest of the world vanished with him…_

… _More stained glass, he was running up them like stairs until he reached the platform at the top, only to be confronted by a giant monster._

 _The monster attacked, and Mickey raised his arms to defend himself, but before the monster could reach him, a blinding light erupted in the mouse's hand, and he opened his eyes to see…_

" _ **WAKE UP, UNCLE MICKEY!"**_

Mickey was yanked from his dreams as several of his nieces and nephews leaped onto his bed, some of them landing on his stomach, winding him.

Not seeming to notice his discomfort, the bunnies continued to bounce both on the bed and on him, one saying gleefully, "Papa said you gotta wake up now!"

Mickey groaned, realizing this was part of Oswald's not so subtle revenge on him for leaving, and silently vowed to get back at him somehow later on. Especially since he doubted this would be the last trick Oswald was going to pull on him before he was satisfied.

Leaving the children to continue using his bed as a trampoline, Mickey got dressed and left the room to see if there was a reason his brother had wanted him up other than petty revenge.

"You rang," he grumbled when he found Oswald sitting at the breakfast table. "I got your wake-up call."

Oswald snickered, but said nothing, but Mickey noticed something that looked oddly like relief in his eyes as well.

A lump of guilt formed in his gut, as he speculated what the relief might be about. His brother must have been worried he'd leave in the middle of the night again.

"Ossie was just telling me some of the things you told him last night," said Ortensia cheerfully distracting Mickey from the feeling as he made his way over to the kitchen to make breakfast. "You're really marrying the _princess?"_

There were multiple loud gasps behind them, and the adults turned to see that several of the children had arrived for their own breakfast, and had just heard Ortensia's claim. Many of the girls looked enamored by the mere idea of their uncle being in love with a princess, while several the boys looked disgusted at the very thought of being in love.

Mickey couldn't tell which expression was worse.

Ortensia intervened before any of them could explode with the symphony of questions that was no doubt about to be released (an act that convinced Mickey that she was an angel in disguise, and swore his eternal graditude). "Let's hear Uncle Mickey tell us," she said in a tone that left no room for argument, making several bunnies pout, but all hustled into the room to listen as Mickey explained his engagement to Princess Minnie and how it came to be.

They were all staring at him by the time he'd finished, then-

"VACATION! NO SCHOOL" squealed several of the bunny children. "WE GET TO MEET THE PRINCESS!" added the girls who had been excited to hear of Mickey marrying her earlier.

"Guess we'll see if they can all fit in the boat after all," Oswald muttered as Ortensia shooed the children off to pack their things for the trip.

Mickey shot his brother a confused look. "You _want_ to take the steamboat?" he asked in confusion. "You hate sailing."

Oswald gave him a deadpan glare. "Do _you_ want to try to wrangle all four hundred and twenty kids in order to _walk_ to the castle?" he shot back.

Mickey winced at the mere idea of trying to manage all of the rambunctious children for that long a journey. "Good point."

"Besides, now we actually have someone who knows how to drive that thing, and it'll get us there much faster," Oswald added, giving Mickey a pointed look, causing the mouse to stare at him in surprise. It had been no secret that Mickey had always wanted to drive the steamboat himself, but Pete had never let him…

"Well, how about it, boat boy?" asked Oswald with a teasing grin.

Mickey could only beam back. "You're the best Ossie."

* * *

One hurricane of packing later, and Steamboat Willie was once again chugging down the river, albeit, it was sunk much deeper into the water than usual due to the sheer weight of bunnies boarded onto it, having all just barely fit.

Oswald seemed intent on spending the entire trip slouched over the side of the boat with several well-meaning children trying to comfort him (but often doing more harm than good), his face taking a distinctive green tint from the moment he stepped foot onto the vessel.

Ortensia, meanwhile, had her hands full making sure none of the children fell overboard when leaning over the railings, as well as trying to keep as much distance between herself and the water as possible. Fortunately, she'd recruited Pluto to pull some of the more precariously placed children back for her, allowing her some breathing room.

At the wheel, Mickey was enjoying his chance to finally pilot the boat after years of being denied such. He even consented to give some of the older children lessons on how to drive it, and it felt good to be the captain of the ship for once.

(He also would occasionally do something to intentionally rock the boat more than necessary, causing Oswald to curse his name. _'That's for this morning,'_ he thought with a grin.)

Things were smooth sailing until Oswald happened to notice something strange on the riverbank through his haze of nausea.

"Am I seeing things, or is there a glowing robot spider walking through those trees over there?" he said with a groan.

His words caused nearly everyone to rush to his side of the boat, and the shift in weight nearly causing the vessel to tip over, making them all scramble to right it again (the resulting rocking left Oswald clutching his stomach and wishing he'd never opened his big mouth).

When the boat had settled, attention turned back to the cause of the commotion, just in time to see the machine Oswald had described vanish further into the trees, carrying a startlingly familiar object.

"The Cornerstone!" shouted Mickey, rushing to the side of the ship in shock, trying to see where the machine had gone. Seeing nothing, he rushed back to the wheel, and drove the boat as close to shore as he dared without beaching it, and dropped the anchor.

"Wait here," he told his family, yanking off his casual clothes to reveal his musketeer uniform underneath, and pulling out his hat to complete the outfit. "As a musketeer, I need to investigate this. I'll be back soon."

"I'm coming with you," said Oswald in a tone that left no room for argument. "The sooner I get off this deathtrap the better."

Mickey wanted to protest, but one look at his brother's green face, and he took pity on him. "Alright, but stay close."

With that, the mouse and the rabbit dove off the side of the boat and swam to shore, then followed the machine into the woods, following the prong-like footprints it had left.

Finally, it led them to a large, ominous-looking fortress in the middle of the forest. It was bleak stone structure with a high wall surrounding it and a slime-filled moat underneath, and the only entrance was a rickety drawbridge that was fortunately still down from the beetleworx's entrance.

Mickey frowned at the sight. "Wait here, Ossie. I'll go in and take a look around."

Oswald scowled, and caught Mickey's arm before he could move away. "Not without me you're not."

"No way," Mickey said with a shake of his head. "It's too dangerous."

"Which is why you need me to watch your back," Oswald snapped back. "You may be a big fancy musketeer now, but don't forget, little brother, I'm the one you could never beat in a fight."

Mickey looked like he wanted to protest, but when he saw the determined expression on Oswald's face, he knew his brother's trademark stubbornness would not allow for anything else.

"Alright," the mouse relented. "But stay close. I've fought machines like that before, and if there's one thing I can tell you about them, they're tough."

"For you maybe," Oswald said as a halfhearted taunt, but his eyeing of the fortress gave away his unease, so Mickey chose not to argue.

As silently as they could, the two slipped into the stone building, keeping a wary eye out for more machines, but fortunately, the only few they came across were small, and were easily crushed before they could sound an alarm.

Finally, the brothers managed to come out onto a catwalk looking down at what could only be described as a mad scientist's laboratory. Complete with said mad scientist cackling wildly as his machine placed the Cornerstone of Light down in front of both him and Mizrabel.

"Finally!" the Mad Doctor drumming his fingers together. "The Cornerstone of Light is ours!"

"Yes, 'finally' in deed," said Mizrabel in a biting tone showing she was not impressed.

The doctor turned and glared at her. "I didn't see you doing anything to bring it here," he snarled back. "This was all made possible by _my_ brilliant inventions, not your cheap magic tricks."

Mizrabel scowled back for a moment, before a smirk overtook her face. "Yes, your little toys' lack of hearts made them the perfect tools to transport this here. But they would do little to stifle the stone's light."

She then stepped forwards, her hands glowing green with magic, "I, however," she said smugly. "Have just the spell to fix that."

With that, she shot her spell at the Cornerstone, the green glow encompassing the entire crystal, and various objects around the room glowing in tandem with the spell. The light of the stone seemed to fight back against the spell, making the witch scowl in concentration as she forced more power into it, until finally the entire surface of the Cornerstone of Light was enveloped in a pitch-black shell, blocking out all of its light.

For a moment nothing seemed to change, and the only sound was of Mizrabel's heavy breathing as she recovered from the exhaustion of the spell.

Then the shadows seemed to come alive, writing and twitching as if the ground and walls were covered in hordes of black ants.

Seeing this, Mizrabel's exhaustion was quickly replaced with a triumphant smirk. Raising her hands to summon her magic again, she recited a second spell.

" _I evoke the shadows of all that be,_

 _to break through the barrier and come to me._

 _This dark power is mine to command,_

 _To answer my call and destroy this land."_

With the final word, the darkness around her exploded, twisting around her like a cyclone, causing the Mad Doctor to hunch to avoid being blown back by the force of it.

Mickey and Oswald could only watch in horror as the writing shadows took shape, rising out of the ground into short, pitch-black creatures with glowing yellow eyes, and bug like antenna on their heads. Fortunately for them, the creatures didn't seem to notice the two of them, and instead swarmed around Mizrabel and the Mad Doctor, regarding the witch almost reverently and prowling around the inventor like hungry lions about to pounce.

Seeing this, the Mad Doctor regarded them with an expression of both fascination and hints of fear. "Control your beasts, Mizrabel," he said. "I cannot study them properly if they attempt to eat me."

Mizrabel didn't answer, her entire body was ridged as she cocked her head to the side, as if listening to one scuttling creatures she had summoned with an unnervingly calculating expression.

"Mizrabel?" the doctor asked again after failing to get her attention.

Mizrabel slowly raised her hand to stroke one of the creatures as it climbed up onto her shoulder. "I… think not," she said finally.

The Mad Doctor jumped, and looked alarmed. "What!" he demanded.

Mizrabel turned and gave her partner a sinister grin. "I will not restrain them, doctor," she said as her creatures began closing in on the doctor. "After all, did you not want to study the darkness as closely as you possibly could?"

"Mizrabel! Stop!" shouted the Mad Doctor in a panic, searching desperately for a way out.

Mizrabel ignored his plea, and continued, "Well, my Heartless will give you an opportunity to do exactly that," she said with a note of finality. She then waved her hand at the doctor, signaling the Heartless to pounce.

The Mad Doctor let out a shriek as the creatures leapt at him, and that was all Mickey saw before Oswald, in a fit of instinct no doubt honed from his years as both an older brother and a father, slammed his hand over his little brother's eyes, blocking out the sight.

That did not stop Mickey from hearing the doctor's horrible screams, before they were cut off abruptly.

And throughout it all, Mizrabel could only laugh. A high, cold sound as she allowed the man who had worked with her be devoured by her creatures.

When she finally stopped, all that could be heard was the sound of her footsteps as she swept out of the room to enjoy her new power.

* * *

 **A/N Yeah… Things are about to get dark. Literally. I know in the games the Heartless aren't discovered until Xehanort brings them to Radiant Garden, but there's a reason for this.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

When Oswald finally removed his hand from over Mickey's eyes, the two could only sit in a stunned silence as their brains tried to process what they'd just witnessed.

In that time, Mickey glanced at Oswald, and was slightly marveled by his terrified expression, and could only assume his own face mirrored his brother's.

But they couldn't hide there forever, and Mickey managed to gather his wits first.

Standing up, he forced Oswald to his feet as well, and began dragging his brother towards a ladder on the catwalk that would take them down to the lab below. "Come on," he said softly.

Oswald, realizing where he intended to go, immediately began pulling in the opposite direction. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "We gotta get out'a here."

"Not without the Cornerstone," Mickey replied firmly. "If that's what's giving Mizrabel her monsters, then getting it back will take them away."

Oswald frowned, and continued to resist. "I doubt it's that simple. Plus, you saw those… things… Heartless? We go down there, they'll rip us to shreds."

"They're not here now," said Mickey, gesturing to show that the Heartless had left the room with Mizrabel as she'd made her grand exit. "This might be our only chance to steal the Cornerstone back before she even knows it's gone. If we let her keep it, who knows what will happen or who could get hurt."

That seemed to break through the rabbit's panic, no doubt remembering his own wife and children were waiting back on the river, and would be easy prey if the witch set her creatures loose.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Oswald snapped, no longer trying to pull away.

Mickey glanced back down at the lab, and caught sight of the spider-like machine that had brought the Cornerstone there in the first place. "D'ya think we could get that machine to take it back to the castle?"

Oswald studied the machine as well, and shrugged. "Well, it had to have made the trip there in the first place to get it. It only makes sense it could take it back. It's just a matter of figuring out how to control it."

"Then let's go," said Mickey as he hurried over to the ladder, and slid down it, Oswald following close behind.

Mickey hurried over to the beetleworx, and began trying to find an on switch, while Oswald poked around the various equipment around the lab.

As Mickey began to get more and more frustrated at his lack of progress at getting the machine to work, when suddenly it surged to life, making him stifle a yelp.

He turned to see Oswald staring back at him with a remote in his hand. Blinking sheepishly, the rabbit held up the remote and said, "Found it."

"Then let's get out of here," Mickey said, glancing nervously at the door, hoping they hadn't been overheard.

Oswald nodded and directed the beetleworx to pick up the Cornerstone up and once again attach it to its back, before the two brothers scrambled onto it as well, and began directing it towards the doors.

It was not the stealthiest exit. Oswald was playing it by ear with the controls, and too often he would accidentally cause the beetleworx to go too fast or slowly, or knock it against a wall, which would have to two straining to hear if they had alerted anyone.

It was honestly surprising that they were not discovered before the drawbridge was in sight.

But all too soon, a furious screech shook the air as they exited the fortress into the courtyard, and they looked up to see Mizrabel glaring down at them from a tower. Her fury only increased as she saw the Cornerstone mounted on their ride's back, and she pointed a clawed finger at them. "Get them, my Heartless!" she shouted, making the darkness come alive once again. "Don't let them escape!"

"Step on it, Ossie!" shouted Mickey, and Oswald forced the beetleworx to scuttle as fast as it could out the gate and across the drawbridge.

Their ride crashed clumsily through the forest in the direction of the river. Behind them, they could hear the Heartless giving chase but neither of them dared look back.

At least, not until the beetleworx was jostled as a Heartless managed to catch up and jump up onto it.

"No hitchhikers!" shouted Oswald as he drove them under a low hanging branch, and managed to knock the dark creature back off.

Mickey drew his sword, and climbed up to balance precariously on top of the Cornerstone, staring back at the hordes following them, and began jabbing it at any others that got close enough to touch the beetleworx.

Fortunately, the river was rapidly coming into sight, with the steamboat still anchored off shore.

Unfortunately, Oswald was distracted by the sight of it, and failed to see the log in their path until their beetleworx tripped over it, sending him, Mickey and the Conerstone flying into the air.

Ortensia, seeing this and the dark creatures chasing them, let out a shriek of fear, and the children let out alarmed cries of, "PAPA! UNCLE MICKEY!"

Acting quickly, several of the children rushed to raise the anchor, while the group that Mickey had been teaching to drive the boat, yanked on the steering wheel.

With a burst of speed, the boat positioned itself so that it perfectly caught Mickey and Oswald on its deck, giving the two brothers a chance to exchange relieved looks, before the Cornerstone crashed down on top of them.

Unphased by this, the children cheered. "HURRAY! WE SAVED PAPA AND UNCLE MICKEY!"

Oswald groaned, and rolled the stone off of him and Mickey. "Nice work, kids," he said with a wry grin.

But they were not out of danger yet, as Ortensia was quick to point out. "Oswald!" she cried, pointing towards the shore. "Those things are still coming!"

They all turned to see that indeed the Heartless were still coming towards them in droves, not seeming to care about getting wet in their pursuit of the thieves.

"Step on it, fellas! Full speed ahead!" Mickey shouted, and the Bunny Children at the helm span the wheel, and pushed the steam boat to make off down the river as fast as it could, leaving the Heartless behind them.

Seeing the creatures fade from sight, Ortensia sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad that excitement is done with."

"It's not over yet," said Mickey, walking over to where the Cornerstone rested, still covered by the dark shell Mizrabel had cast. "Not until we get the Cornerstone of Light back to normal."

Oswald, who was quickly becoming seasick again, resumed his position at the rail of the boat. "Let's just focus on getting to the castle as soon as possible," he said with a groan. "I think we'll all be happier for it."

Meanwhile, Mizrabel stood at the shore of the river, watching the steamboat fade from view, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You will not escape me so easily," she hissed, before rallying her heartless to take off after them once again.

* * *

Upon arriving at the pier not far from the castle, the family was quick to disembark (the children making a game of pushing the stone off the boat by kicking it like a giant soccer ball), and Mickey hurried to notify the musketeers they had reclaimed the Cornerstone of Light.

Upon hearing that news, the musketeers led by Donald and Goofy came bustling to the dock as quickly as they could, escorting Princess Minnie there to see for herself.

The princess immediately launched herself at Mickey upon seeing him, hugging him tightly. "Oh Mickey, you're back," she said.

"An' ya got the Cornerstone even though you was on vacation," said Goofy helpfully, looking over at the children who were still playing around with said stone.

"Do you ever take a break?" rasped Donald with a roll of his eyes.

Seeing the stone in its current state, the princess walked over to it (causing the children to abandon their game) and reached out a hand to place it on the darkened surface. "I can feel the Cornerstone's magic, but this shell. It's keeping me from reaching it," she said, her face pinched in concern.

"Yeah, from what I saw of that crazy witch, I get the feeling that was what she wanted," grumbled Oswald.

Minnie blinked, and only just seemed to realize that she was currently surrounded by bunnies of all sizes, and one cat. "Oh, I apologize for my poor manners, er, who are you?" she said to Oswald.

Oswald sent a stink-eye at Mickey as if to say, ' _Really? You could tell your own girlfriend what I looked like?_ '

Mickey could only shrug helplessly.

Fortunately (if unexpectedly), Goofy said, "Gawrsh, Mick, ya wasn't kiddin' when ya said ya had a big family."

Minnie and Donald's jaws both dropped, and Mickey quickly said, "That's right, Goofy. Fellas, allow me to introduce ya to my big brother Oswald, his wife, Ortensia, and all four hundred and twenty of their children (who are all called Oswald Jr. Even the girls, don't ask)."

"HI!" crowed all the bunny children at once, and their parents waved good naturedly.

"And these are my friends, Donald and Goofy, and my fiancée, Minnie," Mickey continued, waving to the two musketeers and princess.

Donald stared at both of them. "But he's a rabbit and you're a mouse?" he squawked.

Mickey pretended to look confused. "What was that, Donald? I couldn't understand ya? Did ya wanna play with the kids?"

Donald had barely enough time to look give his own confused look before he was overrun with a stampede of eager bunnies, who quickly pulled him into a game of roughhousing much to the duck's distress.

Goofy watched from the sidelines with a grin. "Wow, Donald. Ya sure are good with kids."

Minnie recovered her composure, and giggled at Donald's predicament, before turning to Oswald and Ortensia. "It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I extend the greatest of thanks to you for returning the Cornerstone of Light to us. Come, we must return the stone to the castle and restore it as quickly as possible. You can tell us how you recovered it on the way."

Hearing this, the children cheered, and left Donald in a heap on the ground as they rushed off for the castle.

"That sounds lovely, excuse me," said Ortensia, and she hurried after them in hopes of corralling them into behaving.

After she left, Goofy poked the lump that was Donald, and the duck surged back to life squawking his head off angrily while Mickey and the rest of the musketeer guards loaded the Cornerstone onto a cart to carry it to the castle, and they all set off after the bunny stampede.

* * *

After explaining everything to the Princess, the Cornerstone was replaced into its hiding place, and many attempts were made to free it from the spell Mizrabel had cast on it. They tried everything from Princess Minnie trying to connect to its power, to Donald attempting to magic it off, to Goofy getting out his old floor polisher from his janitor days to scrub it off, but to no success.

Finally, Donald lost his temper with it, and began blasting it with spells with no avail.

As the duck continued his magical crusade against Mizrabel's spell, Daisy and Clarabelle arrived with Max in hand to hear what had happened.

"So this witch, Mizrabel, she covered the Cornerstone with this gunk, and that somehow let her summon an army of little black creatures, which then ate the crazy scientist, and now she's probably on her way here to kill us all, did I get all that?" asked Clarabelle after she'd heard the story.

"And unless we can break her spell on the Cornerstone, she'll get to keep that army and most likely succeed," added Daisy.

"In a nutshell," said Ortensia.

"I've already doubled the guards around the village, and sent messages to all the other villages between here and Mizrabel's fortress," said Minnie. "But from what you've said I worry for their safety."

"You should be," said Oswald with a shudder. "You didn't see what they did to the Mad Doctor. There was nothing left of him."

Mickey gave a grimace of his own as he remembered the screams. Brushing that off, he said, "Can you think of any other way to break Mizrabel's spell? Maybe those three keyblade masters could do something? You called them about the Cornerstone before."

Minnie's face fell. "I have tried contacting them, but I've received no reply. I fear whatever Mizrabel's done to the stone is also blocking me from getting through."

"So we're cut off, great," said Daisy sarcastically.

"So we're gonna have'ta fight? Wonderful!" said Clarabelle, looking gleeful at the prospect of blood shed (there was a reason she'd been Captain Pete's right hand woman, that and her love of gossip meant she was the best spy he'd had).

"You don't have to sound so excited," hissed Daisy.

"You have your hobbies, I have mine," said Clarabelle unapologetically, shifting Max in her grip.

"Focus, fellas," Mickey said. "If we can't free the Cornerstone, then that means Mizrabel is on her way." He then turned to Minnie. "Princess, what should we do?"

Minnie looked conflicted, and as she opened her mouth to speak, a guard came rushing in. "Princess!" he shouted. "You must see this!"

They all exchanged glances and Donald stopped blasting spells at the stone, then they followed the guard out of the room.

They arrived at an upper wall of the castle, and looked out over the town, and gasped at what they saw.

At first glance, it looked as if a wicked thunderstorm was rolling in from the direction of the forest, but when you took another look you would realize that not even the strongest of storms produced clouds that black, nor did thunder clouds usually move along the ground as well as the sky.

Taking an offered spyglass from a lookout, Mickey trained it on the approaching darkness. "It's more of those things and the doctor's robots!" he cried, before catching sight of a familiar figure in the midst of the heartless. "And Mizrabel's leading the charge."

Minnie paled. "We have to stop them before they reach the village!" she ordered.

Mickey nodded. "Musketeers, let's go evacuate the civilians!" he ordered.

Donald, Goofy, and all the other musketeers nodded, and they rushed out of the castle to do just that.

Unfortunately, being at the base of their kingdom's castle, the village was actually quite large, and had far too many occupants for the musketeers alone to evacuate it. Seeing this dilemma, more of the castle guards left the castle to join them. Clarabelle hurried out to help them as well after leaving Max in the care of Ortensia, who, along with the bunny children, was helping the evacuees into the castle by the gates.

Oswald had also come out to help, though with the way he seemed to be sticking by Mickey like glue, it was clear he had a second agenda of watching the mouse's back.

"Think there is any chance we'll be able to talk this out?" the rabbit asked offhandedly as the two helped an elderly woman onto a cart that would carry her and other disabled civilians to the castle.

At that exact moment, one the beetleworx came crashing down onto the house they had just pulled the old lady out of, crushing it to the ground, and causing its former occupant to collapse in a dead faint.

"That answer your question?" Mickey said as he ordered the musketeer driving the cart to step on it, him and Oswald hopping onto the back as it left the twitching beetleworx in the dust as it tried to scuttle after them.

"Well, if talking is out of the question, then how the heck are we supposed to win against all this!" Oswald asked, waving his hands at the encroaching darkness and machines.

Mickey grimaced, but remained silent, having no answer to give him.

Seeing the look on his brother's face, Oswald's own worry skyrocketed, and he turned to shout at the driver to go faster.

He needed to find Ortensia and his children.

* * *

 **A/N They're in deep trouble now. How do you think they'll get out of it?**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

There were very few times when Ortensia wished she had fewer children. She loved all of them dearly, don't get her wrong, but there were times when she felt like she was grossly outnumbered…

This, unfortunately, was one of those times.

"I won't say it again!" Ortensia said in her sternest voice as she rocked baby Max Goof with one arm, and shook a scolding finger at the misbehaving bunnies with the other. "Everyone get inside the castle where it's safe!"

The collective mass of bunnies all stubbornly shook their heads. "No, not until Papa and Uncle Mickey get back," said the ring leader at the front, and was echoed by several others around him.

The children and Ortensia had all been helping evacuate civilians in the areas closest to the castle, but their work had led them all farther from safety than planned, and it was clear to see the danger was closing in far quicker than anticipated. Unfortunately, the children were not at all interested in leaving until Oswald and Mickey returned from the far reaches of the town.

"Your Papa and Uncle will be here soon," Ortensia said in exasperation, trying to reason with them. "But you all being out here, and in danger is not helping either of them. We need to go _now!_ "

"NO!" bellowed the children in unison, their minds made up, and some even sitting on the ground to emphasize their protest.

Ortensia let out an aggravated sigh, and wondered just what she could do to convince them.

"Need some help?" asked a friendly voice, and Ortensia turned to see some familiar figures approaching.

"Having a bit of trouble, Ortensia?" continued Peg Pete, as she came towards them with PJ in her arms, and her husband trailing behind her and glancing back at the dark clouds skittishly.

"We've gots no time to help 'em, Peggy-Poo," Pete said as he scowled at the coming shadows. "We've gotta get ourselves safe first before we's even think of helping someone else."

Peg shot her husband an unimpressed look. "Oh hush," she said. "This'll only take a minute."

She then rounded on the bunny children, and pinned them all with a look that had them quaking in seconds. "YOU HEARD YOUR MOTHER!" she bellowed loud enough to shake the nearby houses. "YOU LONG-EARED SCAMPS GET OVER TO THAT CASTLE THIS INSTANT!"

The bunny children reeled back, and stared at Peg with far more fear than they felt for the darkness, but still didn't move.

Peg's expression darkened even more. _**"NOW!"**_ she roared.

The bunnies scampered towards the castle as fast as they could, making the adults have to jog to keep up.

"Thank you, Peg," said Ortensia as she ran. "You always come through in a pinch."

"She sure does," said Pete with a lovesick expression as he struggled to keep up with the others.

Peg smiled back at the other cat brightly. "Oh, anytime, Ortensia. We moms have to stick together. Besides, it's good practice for when this one gets to that age," she added, nodding at the baby in her arms.

Noticing that Ortensia was carrying her own baby, she asked, "And who's this little fella? You and Oswald have four-hundred and twenty-one now?"

("Oh great, another one," Pete grumbled, but the women ignored him.)

"No, no," said Ortensia, angling Max so Peg could see the utter lack of resemblance he had for both her and Oswald. "I'm just watching him for some of Mickey's friends. They're farther out evacuating the town."

"Those brave souls," said Peg, glancing behind her. "I hope they're alright."

Ortensia's face fell. "Me too," she replied, scanning between the houses they passed for any sign of her husband or brother-in-law, or anyone who could tell her where they went.

"Well, we sure as heck won't be if we don't get to that there castle," said Pete huffily. "So don't you even think about going off to look for them. That boat boy and his posse will be fine."

The women shot him a dubious look, but couldn't fault his words, and continued onwards

Ahead of them, the children let out excited cheers as the castle gates loomed into sight, and the adults all felt their own relief at the sight of it as well.

As they drew closer, Ortensia could make out the sight of Oswald looking around frantically (no doubt for her and the children) while Mickey unloaded a cart full of refugees with the other musketeers.

Smiling at the sight, Ortensia called out, "Oswald!" to get his attention, and the children perked up even more at the sight of their father.

Oswald turned at the sound of his name, and even from a distance, Ortensia could see the tension drain out of him at the sight of all of them.

Only for it to come back in an instant as his eyes widened in horror, and he shouted, "LOOK OUT!" his feet carrying him in their direction before the words even finished leaving his lips.

Startled, Ortensia looked up just in time to see a large black mass fly over all of their heads. The mass landed in front of them with enough force to shake the earth, blocking them from safety.

The rabbits and cats all looked up in fright as towering over them all was a huge, writing, black mass of smaller creatures, all of them seeming to look at the group with their glowing yellow eyes as they swirled like a tornado of demons in front of them.

"RUN!" shouted Ortensia in fright, and her children and the Petes needed no further prompting. They all turned tail and fled the mass of shadows, attempting to turn down a side road to still reach the castle.

But the mass of creatures was fast. Before any of them could reach the alley, it swept around them, blocking their path.

Scrambling, the group tried to change directions again, but the mass was still quicker, blocking them at every turn, until Ortensia was horrified to discover that it was surrounding them at all sides, and slowly closing in on them like hungry sharks.

The children all huddled close together, and the adults shielded them as best they could, searching desperately for a way out, but there was none.

"ORTENSIA!" came a shout beyond their dark prison, and in the small gaps of the writhing mass, Ortensia could just make out the sight of Oswald still rushing towards them, Mickey and his friends (including the Baby Max's father) were right on his heels, but they would never make it in time.

Realizing this, Pete's expression became set with resolve. "I ain't lettin' no black monsters take me alive!" he bellowed. "And they sure ain't takin' my wife or son! We're bustin' out of here!"

With that, he squared his shoulders, and charged straight at the swirling wall of shadows, intending to use his girth to break a hole right through them.

At the last second before Pete could impact with them, the Heartless suddenly shot upwards, causing the big cat to tumble forwards onto his face.

The creatures then hovered like a ring above their heads as Pete let out a groan as he pushed himself back up, just in time for Mickey, Oswald, Goofy, and to reach him.

Pete blinked, and glanced around at the lack of Heartless at ground level as the others made their way past him. "Did I win?" he asked in bewilderment.

For a moment, it looked like he just might have.

Then, a second later, the ring of heartless in the sky swarmed inwards and poured downwards at the center, dropping them all right on top of Ortensia, Peg, and the children.

Then the screaming began.

Ortensia felt rooted to the spot in horror, only able to watch as one by one her children vanished before her eyes. The monsters plunging their razor sharp claws into their little chests, and snatching their glowing hearts right out of them as they vanished. To her left, she registered Peg trying to shield PJ, but to no avail, and the mother and son disappeared, inciting a cry of dismay from Pete.

"ORTENSIA!" came Oswald's strangled cry, and Ortensia looked up to meet her husband's eyes just in time to feel an overwhelming pain in her own chest. She looked down, and was horrified to see a black claw sticking straight through it, her own heart beating within its grip, before it was yanked back out of her.

Ortensia staggered as it was stolen, hearing the sound of her husband screaming through what felt like a thick fog, and knowing she herself was already starting to disappear like her children.

Then, a closer sound managed to register to her through the mist. The sharp, insistent sound of a baby's cry.

Max! She was still holding Baby Max in her arms, and if she disappeared now, he wouldn't stand a chance.

With the last of her strength, Ortensia threw the baby in the direction of Oswald's voice, hoping desperately to get him to safety as she slipped away.

In the distance, she heard the voice of Max's father as he rushed to catch his baby, and she strained to keep her eyes open to see if he got to safety.

The baby flew through the air towards safety, and for a moment Ortensia dared to think she had done it.

Only for hope to be literally snatched away as one of the creatures leaped up and attacked the baby in midair, causing his father to let out a wail of despair.

Defeated and with no strength left, Ortensia felt herself falling backwards into darkness.

At the last second, she managed to catch sight of Oswald still desperately trying to reach her before her vision faded to black, and Ortensia knew no more.

* * *

Oswald skidded to a stop when his wife and the last of his children vanished before his very eyes, only able to stare in horror at the spot where they had once stood.

Beside him, he heard the heartbroken cries of Pete and Goofy over their families being lost in the mass as well, but he could not drag his eyes away to look at them.

"No," he said barely above a whisper. "No, no, no, they can't be gone!"

He was so caught up in his grief that he didn't even register the fact the Heartless were now eyeing them as their next victims.

But Mickey did, and grabbed Oswald's arm and began dragging him back to the castle, Donald doing the same for Goofy, and the other musketeers dragging Pete along as well, though the three were too shell-shocked to even register the movement.

While Donald was not proud of his days as a coward and was glad he'd found his courage, his past actions did give him some advantages, such as being very quick on his feet. Because of that, and despite being weighed down by Goofy, the duck quickly outstripped the other musketeers, and was the first to make it back to the castle, depositing his friend in front of a fretful Clarabelle.

The cow looked at the two worriedly, wondering what had caused them to be in such a state. "What happened out there?" she asked.

Donald opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it, unable to find the words.

How does one even tell a mother that her son was no more.

The silence stretched on, making Clarabelle more and more anxious by the second. Finally, she said again, "What happened? Tell me!"

Donald refused to meet her gaze, but was startled when Goofy spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Max…" he said, heartbroken, making Clarabelle gasp in alarm. "Max is… gone…"

Clarabelle was stunned into silence for a long moment, gaping at the two.

"No…" she said when she recovered her voice. "No… no, it's not true."

She reached down and grabbed Goofy by the front of his uniform, and yanked him up so she could glare at him eye to eye. "Where is he, Goofy!" she snarled. "Where is our son! _Where is he!"_

But Goofy's eyes only filled with tears, and he slowly shook his head.

The truth sinking in, Clarabelle let out a choked sob and fell to knees, dragging Goofy with her as she burst into tears. Goofy wrapped his arms around her, and the couple lost themselves in their sadness as Donald watched on helplessly, knowing there was nothing he could say to make things better.

His own eyes growing wet, Donald forced himself to look away from the couple, and instead turned his attention to outside the gate to see if the others would catch up soon, only to let out a squawk of alarm at what met his gaze.

The other musketeers were closing in on the gate at a rapid pace, but closing in on them at an even faster speed was the darkness.

Worried for his friends, Donald hurried to shout at the guards manning the gates. "Be ready to close the gates as soon as they get through!" he ordered. "We can't let those monsters inside the castle."

The guard snapped a salute, and positioned himself to shut the gates as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Mickey and the other musketeers were running pell-mell towards the gates themselves, dragging along their still unresponsive charges, and not even daring to look back at the shadows snapping at their heels.

As they closed in on the gate, Pete stirred, causing the musketeers to drop him.

As the large cat started to stumble to his feet, majority of those who carried him took that as their cue to hurry on through the gates, but one brave soul hung back to say, "Sir, we must hurry! They're gaining on us!"

Pete looked around blankly for a moment, before his eyes rested on the coming shadows. "P-Peg…" he said in a low voice. "P-P-PJ…"

"Sir! We have to go!" said the musketeer, shifting on his feet, and looking ready to bolt in an instant. Being a good Samaritan could only go so far when it came to the possibility of being devoured by a hoard of monsters.

Mickey doubled back, still dragging a practically boneless Oswald along with him. "He's right, Pete! We gotta go!"

Seeing Mickey hang back to help seemed to be enough incentive for the musketeer to consider his Samaritan job in good hands, and he bolted for the gates, leaving Mickey alone to try and convince his former boss to run.

Mickey gritted his teeth at the sight, but couldn't fully blame the musketeer, as he was close to bolting himself, since he was still supporting Oswald. In a choice between saving Pete or Oswald, his brother would win hands down every time.

"Pete!" he shouted again.

Pete didn't move.

The darkness grew closer…

"PETE!" shouted Mickey.

"MOVE IT YA TUB OF LARD!" bellowed an unexpected voice, causing Pete to jump.

Mickey jolted as it rang out right next to his ear, and looked over to see Oswald had finally regained awareness, and was glaring at the large cat with all his might.

"RUN, YOU IDIOTS!" he snapped, running for the gate and yanking Mickey along with him, and startling Pete into following.

"You're _way_ too nice for your own good," Oswald grumbled to his brother as he ran.

"Sorry, Ossie," Mickey apologized.

The brothers bolted to safety with Pete at their heels, and the darkness closing fast.

Seeing them coming, Donald held up a wing to the gateman. "Drop the gate on my signal!" he ordered, knowing that they would have only a second to spare once the three were inside to shut out the darkness.

The gateman nodded, and prepared himself.

The runners got closer, and the darkness closed in.

"Three," said Donald, beginning the countdown.

Closer, the darkness reaching out for them.

"Two," said Donald, his wing shaking.

They were mere seconds from it now, and Pete glanced back to see if they would make it.

"One!" shouted Donald, bringing down his wing, knowing they would be able to get in before it shut.

They _should_ have all gotten inside before it shut…

But at the last second, Pete panicked at the sight of the enclosing darkness, and with a terrified scream, he shoved past Mickey and Oswald, knocking the two to the ground, and crossing into safety on his own.

Before either brother could regain his footing, the gate slammed shut with an ominous crash.

The two barely had enough time to trade horrified glances, before the darkness was upon them, dragging them away with thousands of black clawed hands.

Strangely, the Heartless didn't attack them, but instead forcibly carried them deeper into their ranks, and the reason for it became alarmingly clear.

Mizrabel stood as an imposing figure, even among the writhing darkness as the brothers were thrown before her feet.

"Well, well," she said as the two stared up at her with wide eyes, and her face grew a malicious smirk. "We are in trouble, now…"

* * *

 **A/N I told you it was going to get dark. Now Ortensia, Peg, and all the children have all lost their hearts, and it's looking like the brothers will soon follow. How are they getting out of this mess?**

 **In other news, OH MY GOSH! Those trailers that were released, I'm both disappointed that the game's been delayed again, but the scenes they showed made my jaw drop.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The two brothers glared up at the witch as they struggled to get free.

Mizrabel ignored their efforts, no doubt knowing that even if they did break the grips of the Heartless holding them hostage, then they still couldn't escape, as they were surrounded by hundreds more on all sides.

Instead she had them carried to the castle gates, making a show of the fact she had them in her grasp, and letting all those who were watching in horror from the top of the wall see them.

Including, much to Mickey's dismay, a pale and distraught Princess Minnie.

Mizrabel's expression grew smug as she noticed the princess watching, and spoke out to address her. "Good evening, your highness. I seem to have found your wayward lover and his little friend. Would you be a dear, and open the gates, so I can return him to you."

Mickey shakes his head firmly, encouraging Minnie not to open the gate. There was no way the witch would keep her promise, and even then, it would be at the cost of who knows how many lives.

And from the way Oswald was shaking his head as well, it looked like he agreed.

All heads turned to stare at Minnie, waiting with baited breath to hear what she would have to say. They were all wondering if she would be willing to sacrifice their safety for the love of her life.

The princess remained silent for a full minute, her head bowed, obstructing her face from the world as she clasped her hands together in front of her in a death grip.

When she finally looked up, she met Mickey's gaze, and he shook his head more desperately. Seeing that, she looked down again, tears running down her cheeks as she wept.

"No…" she said in a voice barely above a murmur, but was still heard by the entire castle.

Mizrabel looked affronted at the denial. She (like much of the kingdom) knew of the princess' long search for the love of her life, and the subsequent spectacle she and Mickey had made of their budding romance once they'd found each other. Love had been what she had wanted for so long, it seemed unthinkable that she would deny it for anything.

Recovering from her surprise, Mizrabel sneered up at Minnie. "So much for true love," she said with a scoff.

Despite the tears in her eyes, Minnie shot the witch an utterly scathing look. "Don't misunderstand," she said, her voice icy cold. "I love Mickey more than I can possibly say. This choice is the most…" she broke off and bowed her head for an instant, unable to find the words to express the devastation she felt by choosing such.

But only for an instant.

When she raised her head again, she held it high, and looked for all the world not as a naïve, love-struck princess, but a regal and commanding queen. "As princess, my first duty is not to my heart, but to my people," she said, her voice firm even with fresh tears streaming down her face. "I will protect them until my dying breath, no matter what the cost. Do what you will, but know I will see that you pay tenfold for all the harm you have done, but these gates will stay _**closed!**_ "

There was a beat of silence as Mizrabel stared in shock at the princess, not expecting such a response.

"Heck of a girl you've got there," Oswald muttered to Mickey softly, approval clear in his voice, despite her words undoubtedly dooming them both.

"I know," Mickey murmured back with a small grin. Then raising his voice, he shouted, "ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS!"

"ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS!" repeated Oswald and all those on the castle wall and within, the rousing cry strengthening their resolve to keep fighting.

Mizrabel looked like she'd just swallowed a lemon at the mere sound of it.

"Well," she snapped, bringing the brief moment of solidarity to an abrupt end. "If you have no desire to rescue him, then I have no further use for either of them."

She then turned to the Heartless, and with a sweeping motion, pointed at Mickey. "Kill him first… _slowly_."

The Heartless immediately became frenzied and excited, and Mickey yelped as the claws holding him down began digging into his arms. With a desperate jolt, the mouse managed to wrench himself free, only to be surrounded by the growing darkness, as it crept up to him slowly, like a swarm of cats stalking their prey.

"Mickey!" shouted Oswald as he struggled against his own captors to try to help, but it did no good.

Mickey tried to back up, but a Shadow behind him lunged at him making him stumble forwards instead, only to have to duck to avoid a swipe that nearly took off his head.

Losing his footing, he fell to the ground. When he looked up he was horrified to see several Heartless looming over him as they pounced, their claws aiming directly for his heart.

Mickey yelped, and brought his arms up in a vain attempt to shield himself before all sight of him was lost underneath the Heartless.

"MICKEY!" shouted both Oswald from where he struggled, and Minnie, Donald, and Daisy from above on the castle wall.

For a moment, it looked like all was lost for the small mouse.

Then, to everyone's surprise, a blinding light began peeking out from the gaps beneath the pile of Heartless, before all the dark creatures where suddenly blown back by a shockwave of glowing light.

Mizrabel screeched as the light blinded her, and Oswald was forced to snap his eyes shut to keep from being blinded himself.

When he opened them again, he was surprised to see Mickey sitting in a Heartless free circle, holding the strangest looking sword he had ever seen in his hand.

It was several shades of blue, with stars printed on the blade, and ended with a curved moon with a star in the middle, and the hilt was a pair of starred wings connected to a small chain with another moon at the end.

As Oswald tried to process what just happened, the Heartless immediately scattered and went on the defensive, as if wary of the new development, the ones holding him captive almost seeming to shift to hold him like a shield rather than a hostage (though their grip was still iron tight).

Mickey, meanwhile, looked just as bewildered as Oswald felt. Once it fully sank in for the mouse that he was really not dead, he turned his eyes to stare at the blade in his hand.

"Wh-What?" he stuttered as his eyes widened in surprise.

"What!" echoed Mizrabel with a hiss.

"Mick?" asked Oswald, unsure if this development was a good thing or bad thing.

It was then Mickey fully registered the shape of the weapon, and his eyes widened with wonder. "A _keyblade?!"_ he gasped.

Mizrabel's eyes widened as she heard that, and her expression turned calculating. "A keyblade?" she said. "One of the weapons of legend, said to be able to unseal anything."

Her grin turned wicked once again. "Mouse," she barked. "You will use that blade to open the gate."

Mickey tore his eyes away from his blade to look up startled, before his expression shifted to one of defiance. "I will not," he said stubbornly.

"Do it…" said Mizrabel, as she pointed a claw like fingernail towards Oswald, "… or I shall kill him. I highly doubt a miracle such as yours will occur a second time."

Mickey's eyes locked with his brother's, and Oswald could clearly see the internal struggle the mouse was going through. On one hand, opening the gate meant the loss of Mickey's love, friends, and countless other lives. On the other, Oswald was Mickey's _brother_ , whom he had only just recently reconciled with, and to turn his back on him like this so soon after… No matter what Mickey did next, the choice would break his heart…

… And Oswald could not let him make such a choice.

"Oh please!" Oswald said in the most obnoxious voice he could muster, drawing everyone's incredulous attention to him. "As if you actually have the guts to do it!"

He then sent a sneer at the witch, ignoring the panicked look on Mickey's face as he tried to silently ask what he thought he was doing?

"You've had this massive army for a day, and yet you haven't managed to do _anything_ with it," Oswald continued, keeping his eyes firmly on the witch, and watching as her expression soured with every word. "I mean, in the span of that time, you've lost the Cornerstone, lost your partner to your own stupidity, and gotten a gate slammed shut in your face. Not exactly off to a great start, are you?"

Mizrabel's teeth began grinding, and around her, the Heartless became even more twitchy, as if responding to her irate emotions.

"You're a joke, that's what you are," said Oswald with a sneer. "An ugly old hag who got a lucky spell, and now thinks she's queen of everything. But it's only a matter of time before you fa-"

"SILENCE!" bellowed Mizrabel, snapping with rage, and causing an immediate reaction in the Heartless.

Before anyone could stop them, the Heartless holding Oswald down drove its claws into the rabbit's chest, and ripped out his still beating heart.

"OSSIE!" screamed Mickey at the sight of his brother being released to slump forwards bonelessly to the ground.

With his strength fading fast, Oswald managed to lift his head, and fix his little brother with a sharp look, and said, " _Run!"_

But Mickey's feet wouldn't move, and he could only stand and stare in horror as his brother started to vanish before his eyes.

Mizrabel, knowing with the loss of her hostage, Mickey had no incentive to aid her, shouted, "Kill him!" sending the Heartless leaping for the mouse once again.

Oswald's last clear sight was seeing his little brother desperately bring up his new sword to defend himself before feeling himself drift away into darkness, no matter how hard he fought to stay.

 _No…_

 _He couldn't leave yet…_

 _Mickey was still…_

 _He_ _ **had**_ _to save his brother!_

As all feeling vanished from Oswald's being, that final thought was the only thing that stuck with him.

* * *

Mickey's instincts and sword skills were the only thing keeping him alive at this point. All else seemed too muted and disconnected to even register to his brain other than a constant repeating cycle of ' _Oswald is gone, Oswald is gone, Oswald is GONE!'_

He wasn't sure if he should be grateful or devastated that the Heartless had obscured his vision of his brother before he could fade completely, but the terrible truth was that Mickey's last remaining family had vanished without a trace.

He couldn't process it, and his lack of concentration was showing more and more with each blow he deflected against the monsters and machines Mizrabel had set on him.

Just then, one of the Heartless managed to get past his defenses, and slashed him across his face, making Mickey jump back with a howl of pain.

Ironically, the pain was just what the mouse needed to clear his head at least somewhat, and focus more on the fight, hopeless though it seemed with the sheer number of enemies surrounding him.

Mickey gritted his teeth and kept fighting, trying to get himself back over to the castle wall. It was a long shot, but his time as the castle's janitor had helped him learn every inch of the place, and there was a side window to the basement that only someone as small as him could squeeze through if he could only reach it.

It was his only chance, so he had to take it, and hope he didn't allow the Heartless to slip in along with him.

As if sensing his attempts to get closer to the castle, the Heartless began actively trying to push him away from his goal, overwhelming him with sheer numbers whenever he tried to move in that direction. Mickey felt as though he were swimming against an undertow, and could not break free no matter how hard he fought.

And if something didn't change soon, he would drown in it.

For a brief moment, Minnie's tearstained face flashed through his mind, reaffirming his resolve. There had been enough loss today, he wouldn't let his name be added to the list. He _had_ to get back to his friends and to her.

With new resolve, Mickey hooked the crooked end of the keyblade to one of the nearby beetleworx, and sent it flying into the group of Heartless blocking his path, making a break for the castle wall when the machine exploded and cleared a path.

Once again, the Heartless were snapping at his heels, all while Mizrabel shrieked at them to kill him.

The Heartless fully intended to do just that, when suddenly a hail of rocks came pelting down on their heads, making them scattered and confused.

Mickey chanced a glance up, and was surprised to see that Goofy and Donald (who had completely forgone his wand) and were throwing stones down at the dark creatures as fast as they could get their hands on them.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU-!" The rest of the duck's sentence was unintelligible due to his rasping voice, but the meaning was clear.

Goofy, uncharacteristically, said nothing, his grief clearly still fresh, but there was a determined gleam in his eye that Mickey took heart in.

Soon even more stones and other objects came raining down onto the Heartless mob as everyone on the castle walls rallied to follow the two's example. Princess Minnie was practically a catapult all on to herself with how much debris she was throwing, and even Daisy, the epitome of ladylike elegance, was throwing stones with the best of them and shouting profanities with each swing of her hand.

Mickey couldn't help the miniscule smile at the sight of their support, but could not stand to appreciate it for long. He had to get to that window.

With the Heartless and beetleworx distracted, it became easier to make his way through them towards his destination. Mizrabel saw this, and shrieked, before becoming distracted by a rock to the head, that knocked off her headdress.

The window soon came into sight as Mickey ran closer…

Closer…

 _Closer…_

Just a few more feet…

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Mizrabel, sending out a shockwave of darkness, knocking all those on the wall off their feet.

Mickey was also sent tumbling, and fell flat on his face just inches from his destination.

To his horror, before he could recover he felt a clawed hand snag his ankle, and begin dragging him away, despite how the mouse clawed at the ground for purchase.

When Mickey dared to look back at what was dragging him, he paled as he saw the Heartless rising above him like a wave that could come crashing down at any second, and knew that when it did so, he was done for.

The wave arced as it curled down towards him, and Mickey desperately held his keyblade in front of him as a shield, and squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the inevitable.

Above him, the voices of his friends all blended together as they cried out in despair…

… but then one voice stood out sharply among the rest.

"Get away from my _brother!"_

Mickey's eyes snapped open just in time to see the Heartless wave be hit by a bolt of lightning, that sent the whole thing quivering as it released his ankle.

The second he was free, Mickey felt a hand roughly grab his uniform, and drag him out of the Heartless' reach, and he snapped his gaze towards his savior.

Oswald looked back, his face attempting a grin. "Hey, little brother," he said. "Still up for a fight?"

* * *

 **A/N Oswald's back, or is he, and is this a good thing? We all know what happens when someone loses their heart, but Mickey and friends don't know that yet.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Mickey could not believe his eyes. He reached up to rub them, and blinked uncomprehendingly at the scene before him, and yet it stayed the same.

Standing before him, in different clothing, holding a strange remote device with only one button, and with a face that was pale white instead of peach, was unmistakably Oswald…

… Whom only minutes ago (though it already felt like hours), Mickey had seen get his heart ripped out right in front of him.

"O-O-Ossie," Mickey stuttered uncomprehendingly as his brain tried to catch up to his eyes.

Oswald's face twitched as he replied, "I think so." He then glanced back at the Heartless, which were now regrouping to come at them again. "Weren't we trying to get away just now?"

Mickey jolted at the reminder, and said, "Right! C'mon!"

With that he grabbed his returned brother's hand and raced towards the window, Oswald somehow using his remote to send more blasts of electricity at the Heatless after them to keep them at bay.

After a hesitant tap on the glass with the keyblade, the window sprang open, and both Mickey and Oswald squeezed through it, snapping it shut behind them just as the Heartless slammed against it, scratching at the glass.

Mickey, in a fit of panic that they'd break the glass, once again brandished his keyblade at the window, and a beam of light shot out of it, bathing the glass in a glow that had the dark creatures shrinking back in fear.

Safe for the moment, Mickey immediately turned his attention back to his returned brother and tackled him in a hug.

"You're here!" he said in a chocked voice. "How- Does that mean everyone else-? What happened to you, Ossie?"

Oswald didn't hug him back immediately, instead, his face was contemplative as he slowly brought his hands up to encircle Mickey. "I… don't know," he said finally, his voice level. "Mick…"

Mickey, sensing something was wrong, pulled back look over his brother again, and saw his face pull into something like confusion. Or at least, an attempt at mimicking confusion, but the expression seemed off somehow.

"Mick," Oswald said again, "something's wrong with me. I-I don't feel anything."

Mickey's elation quickly soured into concern when he heard that. "What do ya mean, Ossie? Ya mean ya can't feel this?" he asked as he reached over to pinch the rabbit's arm.

Oswald jerked back at the sensation and reached over to rub his arm while giving Mickey a baleful look. "Not like that," he said in a harsh tone. "I meant emotions!"

"What?" said Mickey, sounding alarmed. "What'd'ya mean?

"I _mean_ I should be feeling something right now, shouldn't I? Relieved? Happy? Triumphant?" Oswald replied. "You're safe, I'm not dead, and if I'm still here then that may mean Ortensia and the others aren't dead either. These are all good things. I should be a mess of positive emotions right now…" He frowned, his eyes unfocused as he searched inwardly for such feelings and his brother looked on in worry.

"… But I'm not," Oswald said finally, clutching at the spot where the Heartless had torn his heart out. "All there is is an emptiness where I know those feelings, _any_ feelings, should be."

Mickey was silent for a moment, before reaching out to place a comforting hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "We'll figure this out, Ossie." He vowed. "We'll find Ortensia and the kids, and we'll fix this."

Just then the entire castle shook, and they looked outside to see that the Heartless army had resorted to bashing themselves against the castle defenses to get in, making the entire place shake to its foundation.

"Though it's gonna hafta wait 'til we get outta this mess first," Mickey added, tugging his brother forwards as they hurried to join the others.

Minnie and the rest of Mickey's friends met them halfway in the front hall among the refugees gathered from the village, where the princess promptly tackled her fiancé in a hug, wailing apologies and declaring how happy she was that he was alright. Oswald, not wanting to disturb the moment, hung back, going unnoticed as the group focused on the mouse.

Mickey hugged Minnie back and assured her she had done the right thing, before turning to the rest in hopes of planning a way out of this mess. "Donald, how long will the walls hold."

"Who knows?" said Donald with a helpless shrug. "Those monsters hit hard. _Really_ hard."

The castle gave another shake as if to emphasize his point.

"The enchantments protecting this castle are strong and so are the walls," Daisy informed them. "But neither of them have ever gone up against something like this before-"

Just as she said that another blow shook the building, causing dust to rain from the ceiling, and fine hairline cracks to appear in the walls.

"-I don't know how long they'll hold out," Daisy finished, eyeing the cracks with worry.

"Dis is all your fault!" said an angry voice, making them all turn to see Pete storming towards them.

Mickey opened his mouth to respond, but the large cat raised his fist before he could reply, and made like he was going to punch the mouse, even with the princess still clinging to him.

Alarmed, Mickey jerked to protect Minnie from the blow, but before it could land, Goofy dived between them. Pete's punch struck against his shield, resulting in a resounding 'clang' that echoed throughout the room, causing all the occupants to stare in shock at the proceedings.

Pete didn't move to strike again, but he was still shaking with rage as his glare bore into the mouse over Goofy's shoulder. "It's all your fault, you lousy-"

"Hey!" snapped Donald, but Pete ignored him.

"I heard what tha' witch said through the gate," he snarled. "If yous had that fancy key-sword all dis time, then why didn' ya use it sooner? Why didn' ya use it to save my Peg?! Why didn' ya use it to save my _son?!"_

Understanding flooded Mickey as he realized the source of his rage. "Pete! I swear, I didn't get it until just now," Mickey insisted. "If I could, I would have done everything I could to protect both of them. I-"

Pete shoved against Goofy's shield, making the dog stumble back as Pete towered over the mouse, his expression dark. "Save your excuses," he growled. "I ain't never forgivin' you for this, Boat Boy. Dis ain't over yet."

With that, he wheeled around and stormed off, the crowd of refugees parting as he went past.

Mickey winced at Pete's words, before turning to Goofy, remembering what he had lost as well. "I promise ya, pal, the keyblade only just came to me. If I'd just had it sooner…" he trailed off regretfully, but Goofy managed to give him a small sad smile.

"I believe ya, Mick," he said. "If ya coulda saved Maxie, ya woulda."

Mickey then perked up, and said, "But there may still be a chance to get him back," he said, reaching over to where Oswald was lurking, and yanking him into the spotlight. "See!"

Everyone gasped at the sight of the rabbit, and Clarabelle and Goofy's face seemed to gain some hope. They had all seen Oswald's sacrifice from atop the wall, and to see him standing before them now was nothing short of a miracle.

Oswald looked unsure under their scrutiny, but kept quiet about the changes he'd gone through that Mickey seemed to have forgotten about already. Even if he couldn't feel it himself, now was not the time to take their hope away.

Just then, the castle once again quaked from a blow from the Heartless, reminding them of their current predicament.

"Even if they are still alive, we can't go out looking for them with unwanted guests knocking down our door," said Clarabelle bitterly, glaring in the direction of the gate, and the hordes of enemies beyond it.

Minnie, who was still attached to Mickey's arm, said, "Oh if only there was a way to break the seal that awful witch put on the Cornerstone. Its light is what has always kept those creatures at bay."

Oswald perked up like a lightbulb going off on his head. "That's it!" he said, turning to Mickey. "That witch said a keyblade can unlock or unseal anything!"

Mickey's eyes widened as he caught his train of thought. "Meaning I can use this to break her spell on the Cornerstone, sending her forces back to where they came from!" he said, holding up the keyblade.

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Donald as they all turned to rush to the Cornerstone room.

As if in reply, it was that exact moment that the Heartless broke through, and began rushing through the courtyard towards the castle, causing the refugees to panic as they closed in.

Seeing this, Minnie took charge. "Mickey, get to the Cornerstone. Break that spell!" she ordered, "Donald, Goofy, you and the Musketeers hold them off for as long as you can. Daisy, Clarabelle and I will lead our people to safety. Go!"

The three barely took the time to snap a quick salute before rushing to follow her orders.

As Mickey took off through the castle, he heard a second set of footsteps behind him and was unsurprised to see Oswald following him.

"You should evacuate with the civilians," he said to him as his brother caught up and matched his pace.

"Not a chance," Oswald replied bluntly. "I don't need emotions to know you'll probably need me to save you again."

Mickey let out a humorless laugh at that. "Just don't save me the way you did last time. I'm not losing you again."

Oswald remained silent, and Mickey pretended not to notice he made no promises.

They rushed through the castle with the entire place shaking like it was about to come down around their ears. Upon finally reaching the throne room, they had to screech to a stop when a section of the ceiling came crashing down in front of them.

Looking up, they (or at least Mickey) were horrified to see Mizrabel's face towering over them with a pitch-black pallor, and glowing yellow eyes.

"She fused with the Heartless!" shouted Oswald in realization.

"She can do that?" asked Mickey as he stood frozen in shock.

"Apparently," said Oswald, gesturing to the proof before their eyes.

Mizrabel gave the two a nasty grin, and reached her now massive taloned hand into the hole she had created, only to let out an earth-shaking shriek when Oswald zapped it back with his remote.

If he could, Oswald would have felt almost grateful for his emotional numbness at this moment, as it kept him from freezing up like Mickey had. As it was, he had been able to react quickly enough to force the now giant witch back and shove his brother forward. "The Cornerstone, Mickey," he said pointedly.

Spurred back into action, Mickey nodded. "Right," he said shortly and bolted for the hole by the throne, Oswald hot at his heels.

They raced down the steps, and Mizrabel came shrieking after them, her shadowy form flooding through the hole to give chase.

The brothers' race to get down the steps caused the two to stumble, and practically bounce down the rest of way before landing in a heap at the bottom at the base of the Cornerstone.

Pushing himself to his feet, Mickey looked frantically between the stone and his keyblade, and said, "Uh, now what? How do I unseal it?"

Oswald looked back up the steps as stairway blackened with the coming darkness. "I don't know," he replied. "But you better figure it out quickly. She's coming!"

Desperately, Mickey held his keyblade aloft and began waving it like he'd seen Donald do with his wand in hopes something would happen.

Nothing did.

Seeing the creeping darkness grow closer, Oswald brandished his remote and sent another bolt of lightning into its midst. "Mickey! Hurry up!" he shouted as the shadows screeched and pulled back, only to begin encroaching again all too soon.

Mickey spared a brief glance back at his brother, before looking down at the keyblade frantically and shook it roughly. "Come on, work," he muttered to the blade. "If you don't break this spell, we're doomed."

The darkness attacked a second time, and once again Oswald blasted it back, but the effect seemed to lessen with the growing darkness in the room.

"Mickey!" he shouted impatiently.

Mickey winced at the shout, before closing his eyes and pointing the keyblade directly at the cursed Cornerstone of Light.

"Please work," he whispered.

For a second nothing seemed to happen, then, to both brother's surprise, a glowing light surrounded Mickey, before being drawn up to the tip blade in a brilliant gleam. Once all the light had gathered, a shining beam burst from the tip and shot into the Cornerstone.

The curse surrounding it shattered like glass, unleashing a shockwave of light that burst outwards, past the brothers and out of the castle and making all the Heartless wither as they were vanquished by the light.

Upstairs, all the castle's occupants cheered as their foes vanished before their eyes, and it seemed they had won the day.

Mickey too was exuberant, rushing over to pull Oswald into a crazy victory dance out of sheer relief, and though the rabbit could share none of his enthusiasm, he still managed to put a smile on his face at the mouse's exuberance.

All looked well until a soft chanting from above alerted the two that there was still one last enemy in their midst.

The two rushed up the steps with their weapons at the ready, only to stop dead at the sight that met their eyes.

Mizrabel, now absent the Heartless' power, appeared to be conjuring one last spell, and from the look of the green lights swirling around her, it was looking to be a big one.

Mickey shook himself and leveled the witch with a glare. He knew stopping a sorcerer's spell in halfway through was likely worse than it completing (a lesson he'd learned the hard way during Donald's magic training). Only she would be able to stop it without (or at least minimal) consequence.

"Stop this, Mizrabel!" he demanded. "By my authority as a Musketeer, I arrest you!"

Mizrabel ignored him and continued to chant, her words quick and desperate.

Mickey shared a look with Oswald, who shrugged back at him. This was not good.

"I said _stop_ , Mizrabel!" Mickey said louder, pointing his keyblade at her. "Your partner is gone, your curse is broken, and your army has been defeated. There is nothing left for you. You've _lost!"_

That caught the witch's attention, and she rounded on the two of them. "Lost?" she asked, an almost insane gleam in her eyes. "Oh, I know I've lost."

Her face then took on a nasty smirk, "But I will not be the only one to suffer for it!"

With that she threw her hands upwards, unleashing her spell through the broken ceiling and up into the sky where it spread out across the clouds much like the light shockwave had done only seconds before.

Oswald immediately pointed his remote at the witch. "What did you do?" he demanded.

Mizrabel's crazed expression only grew more frenzied. "A memory spell," she practically purred. "One that will encompass all of this world, affecting everyone within it."

"And do what?" snapped Mickey, as he kept his keyblade pointed at her, his stance ready to attack.

"And make them forget," said Mizrabel. "To erase this entire event from history. As far as you'll know, this day, this attack never happened." She then gave them both a nasty grin, "As well as erase all memory of those who have been taken by the darkness. Their disappearance would be a constant reminder of what happened, after all."

Realization of what she meant shot through Mickey like a bolt of lightning, and he shot forward and swiped at the witch with his keyblade, causing her to shatter like glowing shards of glass, cackling as she went.

Mickey was shaking as her words echoed in his head. Erasing the memory of those taken meant he would forget about his family, about Goofy's son. And he couldn't bear the thought of forgetting about Orten… Or… O…

He paled as he realized already his sister-in-law's name was fading from his mind like vapor, and he likely would have continued struggling to remember if a voice behind him hadn't caused him to freeze.

"M-Mickey!"

The mouse wheeled around and was horrified to see Oswald sway and fall forwards as his feet began vanishing right out from under him like shards of glowing white glass.

"Ossie!" Mickey shouted, rushing over to steady him, and they both collapsed to their knees.

Oswald's face turned sardonic. "I guess I can't exist too," he muttered. "How I am now is too much of a reminder. Can't just forget why I suddenly don't have a heart."

Even as he gripped his brother's shoulders, Mickey could practically feel his memories of him flying out of his head. Even though he fought with all the mental strength he had, he could do little to hold onto them.

Still, he refused to give up. "NO!" he shouted, yanking his brother into a desperate hug as if clinging to him would help anchor the memories. "You're my big brother, Ossie! I can't lose you!"

"From the looks of things, you won't even know I'm gone," said Oswald, already sounding like he was giving up as the shattering light spread up to his waist. "For what it's worth, I'll be sure not to forget you."

"Don't say things like that! We'll fix this!" said Mickey.

"How?" asked Oswald. "You can't stop this."

"Because I promise you!" shouted Mickey, yanking Oswald back to look at him. "I _promise_ you, that memories or not I'll find you! I'll get your and everyone else's hearts back!" He then looked Oswald square in the eye, his eyes burning with determination. "You can count on that, Ossie!"

Oswald stared at him with a stunned expression as the light reached his shoulders. Then, just as it spread up to his face he gave Mickey an actual genuine smile. "I believe you, little brother. I think can actually feel it."

And with that last smile, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit vanished, the shards of light floating away, leaving a devastated mouse in their wake.

Mickey let out one final cry of anguish that echoed throughout the castle for a loss he was no longer even sure he knew what it was for.

Then, breathing heavily, he stopped, and looked around the throne room, wondering why he suddenly felt so melancholy, and (more importantly) why the castle suddenly looked like Swiss cheese.

Blinking in confusion, he looked around trying to put the pieces together. "Gosh," he said more to himself than anyone else. "What happened?"

Then he remembered. "Oh right," he said slowly, as the explanation slowly trickled into his mind. "The tornado."

How could he forget? A tornado had just blown through town, destroying several houses. They'd evacuated the civilians to the castle for safety, but even it had suffered under the wrath of mother nature.

"Mickey! MICKEY!" came a shout behind him, and he turned to see Princess Minnie come bursting into the room, and throw her arms around him.

"Princess, are you okay?" Mickey asked worriedly. "What happened?"

Minnie shook her head into his shoulder. "I don't know," she said. "I just suddenly so worried. It felt like something bad had happened to you, and I needed to find you and make sure you were okay."

She then pulled back from the hug, and her face melted into concern. "Mickey?" she asked cupping his face in her hands. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Mickey blinked and reached up to find tears streaming from his eyes. He quickly brushed them away, before giving Minnie a look of pure confusion.

"I-I don't remember," was all he could reply.

* * *

 **A/N For the record, I wrote this before I saw Infinity War. It only occurred to me now as I was looking it over before posting it there are some similarities. Oswald's vanishing was really supposed to be more like when Xion vanished since both are being erased from everyone's memories. Just the epilogue left.**


	14. Epilogue

**Chapter 13**

In wake of the tornado, there was a lot of work to do. Several homes had been destroyed, but, thankfully, it seemed there were no casualties from the disaster. With it over, everyone began pitching in to rebuild their town, as well as the castle that kept them safe through the storm. In the end, Princess Minnie decided to give the whole castle a massive redesign, changing its look almost completely to a large blue and white structure.

With the damage repaired and no one hurt, the whole incident was quickly pushed so far into the backs of everyone's minds that it was all but forgotten, and life moved on.

But though no one really thought much about it, no one could deny that after that _something_ had changed along with the castle, and while any notion as to _what_ was anyone's guess, that change had consequences.

One of the most immediate changes it brought about was the end of Goofy and Clarabelle's relationship.

It wasn't because of any bad blood between the two. On the contrary, they remained quite fond of each other from a distance, but for some reason, the mere sight of the other would bring the former couple a crippling feeling of loss and sadness that neither could explain.

"It's like… like somethin's missing," Goofy tried to explain when they asked. "There's somthin' that's supposed to be here, and… it's not. And that missin' pieces feels like it's breakin' my heart."

Donald and Mickey exchanged glances. The duck looked utterly confused by what he described, but Mickey…

"I think I understand, sorta," said Mickey. "I can't really explain it, and it's not quite the same, but I know what you mean."

Donald looked alarmed. "You're not breaking up with the Princess, are you?"

Mickey jolted at his words and shook his head frantically. "No, no, nothing like that. Like I said, it's different. It's not Minnie that gives me that feeling."

Donald remained flummoxed. "Then what does?"

Mickey gave a helpless shrug.

Goofy gave a chuckle as he pulled his friends into a hug. "We're a buncha nuts, aren't we?"

Mickey snickered at his words. "That's one way to put it."

Donald rolled his eyes. "You two are the nuts. I'm the only normal one here." But he returned the hug all the same.

While their friends never fully understood, they were sympathetic of Goofy and Clarabelle through the breakup and did their best to be supportive in any way they could.

However, there were other little changes that would crop up from time to time.

For example, while they had never been friends, for some reason Pete now absolutely _hated_ Mickey because the cat knew there was _something_ he had done that ruined his life (even if Pete couldn't actually say what it was). This persistent hatred caused him to draw away from any offers of aid, and slowly become more and more like his treacherous cousin, and eventually leading to his banishment from the world entirely.

There were other such instances. Various people would around the castle and town would mention something or someone who should have been there, but when questioned would have no idea what they had meant.

The most prominent example of this was, of course, Mickey himself.

Like the others, there was a near constant ache that he was missing someone he couldn't recall. Often when telling his friends about the past he would use 'we' instead of 'I' to describe his shenanigans as a child but would never be able to elaborate on just who 'we' was. Or, when something amazing happened, he would start to say, "Oh boy, I can't wait to tell-" only to trail off as he was unable to recall who he had been talking about.

The most memorable event caused by this phenomenon was when he refused to have either Donald or Goofy as his Best Man in his wedding to Minnie.

"Sorry, fellas," he said to the two of them when they'd asked who he would pick. "But I promised that position to someone else."

Donald and Goofy exchanged confused glances. As far as they knew, they were the best friends Mickey had. Who could he have promised it to if not them?

"Well, who'd'ya give it to?" Goofy asked. "We gotta send 'em an invitation."

"It better not be Pete," Donald grumbled, the cat being the only person they knew of from before they met Mickey.

Mickey let out a snort at the idea of his former boss being his best man. "Of course not," he said. "I promised the position to…"

He trailed off as a confused expression overtook his face. "To… to… I know it was someone! It was…"

For the life of him, he could not come up with the name. He kept wracking his brain, trying to force the memory out. He knew it was someone important. Someone he couldn't imagine getting married without. But no matter what he did, the name eluded him.

His friends watched in alarm as Mickey began to frustrate himself to the point of tears trying to give them a name.

"Okay, stop!" Donald shouted, not wanting to see Mickey's distress anymore.

Mickey jolted and looked at them as though he'd forgotten they were there.

Goofy reached over and patted the mouse on the shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay if ya don't remember right now, Mick," he said. "An' tryin' ta force it won't do ya any favors. You'll remember soon as ya stop thinkin' 'bout it, an' we can send that invitation then."

"We can just be groomsmen," said Donald. "It's your wedding. Do what you want."

Mickey sniffed and rubbed the tears from his eyes, giving his friends a smile. "You're right, fellas. This is really important to me. I'll remember soon enough."

But he never did, and during the wedding, his half of the pews felt heartbreakingly empty compared to Minnie's being filled with extended family. Why it felt so, he never knew, and eventually chalked it up to missing his late father and the only family he'd ever had.

However, the greatest, and most notable change in Mickey was his new, and almost insistent drive to leave his home, to leave his _world_ and search for… something…

A drive that became at odds with his new responsibilities as King at Minnie's side, no matter how supportive she was. As she was the one with the royal bloodline, she was in charge of most things anyway, but leaving it all to her left a pit in Mickey's stomach that was almost as insistent as the one pulling him to the stars.

Majority of their friends didn't understand why Mickey was suddenly so eager to leave and search for some unknown, despite it being clear he loved his home and everything there, but they (Goofy most prominently) supported him as well.

This insatiable drive was only enabled when Master Yen Sid returned to their world and found that Mickey's keyblade had manifested, and quickly took the mouse on as his apprentice.

Suddenly, leaving the world of Disney was more than just a fantasy, it was a possible and obtainable reality, and not even Yen Sid's tower and training could contain the mouse. The second he heard there was trouble and got his hands on a Star Shard, he was out the door and bouncing across the cosmos on an amazing adventure.

An adventure that heartbreakingly ended with a brutal battle, and three friends he'd made being lost.

Not dead, he refused to even think that. They were just lost and waiting to be found.

And so, Mickey continued to travel and search. Looking throughout the vast number of worlds for any signs of Ven, Terra, Aqua, and… someone… someone important.

If only he could remember who.

Ten years pass and he finds Aqua, only to lose her again to the Realm of Darkness, and gaining a new friend in a young boy named Riku shortly after. The two escape the Realm of Darkness soon after, gaining allies in the mysterious DiZ and Naminé, and with Mickey vowing to find a way back in to rescue Aqua.

But, unfortunately, Aqua would have to wait a little bit longer, as the more imminent threat of Organization XIII took precedence, no matter how much he'd rather rescue his friend instead. Added to the trouble was the fact that Donald and Goofy, along with Sora, Riku's best friend, had had their memories so altered they would have to sleep until they were restored.

Upon hearing about Nobodies, something struck Mickey as… familiar… As if he had encountered something like them before.

As such, he was utterly disgusted when he heard DiZ's thoughts on them. That they were abominations that should have never existed and should be wiped out completely. He'd lashed out against that, and caused a great argument between them. He agreed the Organization should be stopped, but wiping them all out like vermin was not something the mouse could agree with. This caused Mickey to go his separate ways from the man in red to find his own way to stop the Organization, trusting Riku and Naminé to keep DiZ in check while they worked to wake their friends up.

His vehement denial of DiZ's beliefs about Nobodies lead to Riku and DiZ keeping the majority of their plans for the Organization member, Roxas, from him, with the mouse only finding out what they had done to him after the fact. He couldn't deny that the discovery had left him disappointed in both of them.

Strangely enough, Riku now seemed afflicted by the odd memory problem as well. Often mentioning a 'she' that he couldn't explain, and miscounting how many members Organization XIII had (a very odd thing to do, as the number of members was literally in the name). Part of Mickey wondered if the phenomenon was contagious.

But with Sora now awake, they could finally move forward with their plans to take down the Organization, so Mickey pushed such thoughts to the wayside.

In the end, Sora, Donald, and Goofy did most of the actual work, and soon enough the Organization was defeated and Kingdom Hearts out of their reach, though at the cost of DiZ's (who, it turns out, was really Ansem the Wise, the thought-to-be-lost leader of the world, Radiant Garden, and the previously perceived one who had created the Heartless, but that was actually his apprentice named Xehanort who stole his name… it's complicated, okay, you had to be there) life.

But even with Organization XIII out of the way, there was still clear signs of trouble brewing in the future, and the seven seekers of light would need to be gathered. To do this Mickey's friends would need to be found.

(Unfortunately, the forgotten person he was searching for would have to wait a little longer, loathed though he was to admit it. It wouldn't do much good to find them only for them to all be swallowed up by the darkness.)

But first, Sora and Riku would need to complete their Mark of Mastery to become Keyblade Masters, and fully prepared for whatever lay ahead.

Of course, the whole thing turned out to be a trap from Xehanort, who seemed to have an unrealistic and annoying ability to predict their movements before they had even thought of them.

Still, with the two boys trapped in slumber, there wasn't much the rest of them could do to help, but they did what little they could.

Despite the complications, Sora and Riku still seemed to be unlocking the sleeping worlds one by one, until they reached one that had Yen Sid quirk an eyebrow in confusion.

"Interesting," he said, stroking his beard.

Mickey exchanged a glance with Donald and Goofy, before asking, "Master Yen Sid? What's interesting?"

"The world that Sora and Riku have now reached… is your own," Yen Sid said, looking thoughtful.

Mickey blinked in surprise and heard his friends give their own startled reactions. "Ours?" he asked. "But… Our world's not asleep."

"Not the whole world, no," Yen Sid said, still stroking his beard. "But it seems a small portion in history has been lost and forgotten by all who were present. While the two of them are in a more remembered portion, it is intrinsically linked to the forgotten."

"Forgotten?" Donald rasped. "What could we possibly forget that was big enough to make a whole world?"

At that moment, it seemed Sora and Riku reached the keyhole of the world, and the answer came flooding back to them in an instant.

Goofy fell to his knees in shock as memories of his son came rushing back into his head. Donald, who was not as affected as the others rushed to his side to comfort him.

In any other circumstance, Mickey would have done the same, but the mouse was frozen in place, and tears began streaming down his cheeks as years of forgotten moments filled his head for the first time in over a decade.

"Oswald…" he whispered, saying his brother's name for the first time in what felt like centuries.

* * *

In a small, dilapidated world known only as The Forgotten Wasteland, home to all those forgotten by all, a rabbit Nobody froze in his tracks, his ears standing straight up, and listening.

" _Oswald…"_ said a voice in the wind, but was not spoken by any present. The second the word was spoken, a warmth flooded through him like he hadn't felt in ages.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit looked up at the stars, knowing full well what that whisper meant.

"About time you remembered, little brother," he said. "You better keep your word."

The stars glimmered back as if in promise.

Oswald's face split into a knowing grin.

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

 **A/N That's my story. I hope you all enjoyed this little fic. I had fun writing it, and I can only hope we might see Oswald in Kingdom Hearts someday, or any more Oswald content really. Still, this was an idea I've had sitting in my brain for a while now, and I'm glad to finally get it out there.**

 **I originally meant to write one more chapter chronicling Oswald's awakening in the Forgotten Wasteland, but it just didn't want to be written. If I ever finish it, I'll add it as a bonus chapter or a spin-off. It was going to explain how the world they found themselves in world, and introduce the gremlins, Blot, ghosts, and maybe some forgotten skeletons from Coco (kind of a plot bunny that occurred to me as I watched that movie for the second time). Maybe it'll be added, maybe it won't. Also, I may someday write Mickey and Oswald's reunion, but that will be a sequel fic, and probably follow the Epic Mickey storyline a little more closely, or not, who knows what inspiration will strike me.**

 **Until next time, thank you so much for reading. See you in the next fic.**


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